112 
Chemistry  of  Ipecacuanha. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharru. 
March,  1901. 
PSYCHOTRINE. 
This  alkaloid  exists  in  ipecacuanha  in  very  small  amount, 
relatively,  to  emetine  and  cephaeline,  and  it  differs  from  those 
alkaloids  in  being  very  sparingly  soluble  in  ether.  As  previously 
mentioned,  it  is  obtained  by  extracting  with  chloroform  the  ammoni- 
acal  liquid  from  which  emetine  and  cephaeline  had  been  previously 
extracted  by  ether.  The  quantity  obtained  was  too  small  to  allow 
of  complete  examination,  but  the  physical  characters  of  psychotrine 
distinguish  it  in  a  very  definite  manner.  It  is  a  crystalline  alkaloid 
which  separates  from  ether  in  well-defined  transparent  prisms  of  a 
pale  lemon  yellow  color.  It  melts  at  about  1 380  C,  neutralizes  acids, 
and  apparently  has  a  much  higher  molecular  weight  than  either  eme- 
tine or  cephaeline.  Psychotrine  dissolves  readily  in  alcohol  or 
chloroform,  the  solutions  becoming  dark-colored  on  exposure  to 
light  and  depositing  a  dark  brown  substance. 
In  order  to  obtain  more  precise  information  as  to  the  molecular 
weight  of  emetine  and  cephaeline  than  is  given  by  the  analysis  of 
their  platinum  salts,  we  carried  out  many  experiments  for  that  pur- 
pose, employing  Beckmann's  boiling  point  method. 
In  dealing  with  emetine  and  cephaeline  there  are  several  diffi- 
culties to  be  overcome  in  order  to  accurately  ascertain  the  rise  in  the 
boiling  point  of  the  solvent  as  the  basis  of  the  molecular  weight  de- 
termination. Sakurai,  Landsberger  and  others  have  suggested 
modifications  of  Beckmann's  process  in  order  to  obviate  the  varia- 
tions peculiar  to  it ;  but  in  dealing  with  emetine  and  cephaeline 
there  is  difficulty  in  obtaining  the  solvent  that  shall  have  no  action 
on  the  alkaloid  at  the  'boiling  point  of  the  solvent.  Ether  is  the 
only  solvent  for  emetine  and  cephaeline  that  we  have  found  to  allow 
the  solution  of  the  alkaloid  to  be  boiled  without  decomposition  of 
the  alkaloid  as  judged  by  the  change  in  color.  Ether,  however,  has 
the  great  disadvantage  that  when  in  a  dry  condition  it  does  not 
readily  dissolve  these  alkaloids.  When  emetine  and  cephaeline  are 
liberated  in  a  nascent  condition  they  are  readily  dissolved  by  ether 
in  the  presence  of  water,  but  that  is  not  the  case  when  the  dry  base 
is  added  to  perfectly  dry  ether.  Dry  chloroform  and  absolute  al- 
cohol readily  dissolve  these  bases,  but  judging  frbm  the  intense 
darkening  of  the  solutions  and  separation  of  floccuient  matter  after 
boiling,  there  is  an  apparent  alteration.  Trustworthy  results  with 
ether  could  only  be  obtained  by  employing  the  modification  of  the 
