Ain.  Jour.  Pharm.'l 
Jan.,  1885.  j 
Quassin  and  its  Constitution. 
29 
QUASSIN  AND  ITS  CONSTITUTION. 
By  V.  Oliveri  and  A.  Denaro. 
In  order  to  prepare  quassin  from  quassia,  10  kilos,  of  the  finely 
divided  wood  are  twice  extracted  with  45  litres  of  boiling  water,  and 
the  solution  evaporated  to  10  litres  at  a  gentle  heat;  when  cold,  the 
quassin  is  precipitated  by  tannin,  collected,  washed,  and  after  being 
mixed  with  'a  sufficient  quantity  of  lead  carbonate,  it  is  thoroughly 
dried  at  100°.  The  product  is  then  extracted  with  boiling  alcohol, 
the  alcohol  distilled  off,  and  the  residue  set  aside  until  it  deposits  the 
quassin  in  a  crystalline  state  ;  it  is,  however,  always  contaminated  with 
resinous  matters,  from  which  it  is  purified  by  repeated  crystallisations 
from  dilute  alcohol  :  30  kilos,  of  the  wood  gave  10  grams  of  pure 
quassin.  It  crystallises  in  very  slender,  colourless,  iridescent  needles, 
which  belong  to  the  monoclinic  system,  the  predominating  form  being 
the  oblique  prism  with  rhombic  base.  It  melts  at  210-211°  (Christen- 
sen  205°),  and  is  very  soluble  in  alcohol,  chloroform,  and  acetic  acid, 
but  only  sparingly  in  ether  :  100  parts  of  water  at  22°  dissolve  0*2529  ; 
the  aqueous  solution  becomes  yellow  on  expasure  to  the  air,  is  dextro- 
rotatory, excessively  bitter,  and  reduces  Fehling's  solution.  The  results 
of  the  analyses  agree  nearly  with  the  numbers  required  by  the  formula 
C32H44O1Q,  and  differ  considerably  from  those  given  by  Wiggers  and 
by  Christensen,  who  proposed  the  formulse  CjoHigOg  and  C3ill420^ 
respectively. 
When  quassin  is  heated  at  90°  for  some  hours  with  dilute  sulphuric 
acid  (4  per  cent.),  it  yields  quasside  C32II42O9,  a  white,  amorphous, 
bitter  substance,  formed  from  quassin  by  the  removal  of  the  elements 
of  1  mol.  H2O  ;  no  glucose  could  be  detected  in  the  mother  liquors. 
It  melts  at  192-194°,  and  when  boiled  with  dilute  alcohol  is  recon- 
verted into  quassin,  which  crystallises  out  as  the  solution  cools 
Quasside  is  also  formed  when  quassin  is  boiled  with  acetic  anhydride, 
but  if  sodium  acetate  is  present  there  is  a  powerful  reaction,  and 
several  substances  seem  to  be  produced  ;  these  have  not  as  yet  been 
submitted  to  examination. 
Bromine  diluted  with  acetic  acid  acts  on  a  solution  of  quassin  in 
the  same  solvent,  and  on  adding  water  an  amorphous  resinous  sub- 
stance is  obtained,  but  it  does  not  crystallise  ;  this  melts  with  decom- 
position at  155°,  and  the  results  of  the  analyses  suggest  the  formula 
GgeH^^Br^Og.    Nitric  acid  added  to  an  acetic  solution  of  quassin  seems 
