Am.  Jour.  Pharin. 
Jul  j*,  1903. 
Epinephrin  and  its  Compounds. 
315 
hydrochloric  acid  often  gave  a  crystalline  material  for  the  most  part 
of  the  following  composition  : 
C=  58-39  —  58'45 
H=  6-90 —  7*19 
N=  7-59  (Dumas). 
It  will  thus  be  seen  that  under  whatever  name  the  substance  now 
under  discussion  appears,  whether  as  suprarenalin,  adrenalin,  etc.,  or 
in  whatever  manner  it  is  prepared,  its  composition  when  properly 
purified  is  always  found  to  be  that  given  above  by  my  own  prod- 
ucts : 
Found  for  the  Substance  as  Made  Found  as  Made  by  the  Required  for 
by  the  Zinc-Ammonia  Process.  Trichloracetic  Method.  Ci0H13NO3^HoO. 
C  =  58-61  —  58-67  C=  58-72  C=  58-82 
H—    6-8a—  6-77.  H=    6-87  iH=  6-86 
N=    7-08  (Kjeldahl-Gunning).  N=     7-12  (Dumas).  N=  6"86 
O  =  27-47  O  =  27-29  O  =  27-56 
The  agreement  between  the  found  percentages  and  those  required 
by  the  empirical  formula  C10H13NO3^H2O  are  so  close  that  we  arc 
justified  in  ascribing  this  formula  to  the  above  variety  of  epinephrin. 
CONVERSION  OF  C10H13NO3  ^  H20  INTO  THE  ALKALOIDAL  FORM,  C10H13NOS. 
It  was  stated  in  the  beginning  of  this  paper  that  after  finding  that 
my  first  series  of  compounds  (C17H15N04)  had  retained  an  unsaponi- 
fied  benzoyl  radical,  I  was  forced  to  adopt  the  formula  C10HnNO3  as 
the  true  empirical  expression  for  alkaloidal  epinephrin. 
It  now  appears  that  the  crystalline  compound  above  described 
(C10H13NO3^H2O)  is  easily  changed  into  the  alkaloidal  form 
C10H13NO,  without  first  benzoating  and  then  saponifying  its  benzoyl 
compound. 
It  is  only  necessary  to  dissolve  it  in  concentrated  hydrochloric 
acid  or  in  very  strong  sulphuric  acid  in  order  to  effect  a  dehydration 
and  to  give  it  the  missing  alkaloidal  properties.  Short  exposure  to 
very  dilute  mineral  acids  for  a  short  time  in  the  autoclave  at  pres- 
sures of  2  or  3  atmospheres  also  effects  this  dehydration.  Further- 
more, a  brief  exposure  in  vacuo  of  the  thoroughly  dry  crystalline 
hydrate  to  a  temperature  of  1770  also  effects  the  dehydration, 
although  it  must  be  stated  that  this  is  not  an  economical  method  of 
conversion,  inasmuch  as  secondary  changes  occur,  the  material  tak- 
ing on  a  brownish-red  color  and  a  certain  amount  of  loss  resulting. 
