They represent the reaction as follows:
C_{15}H_{23}NO_{3} = C_{9}H_{10}O_{3} + C_{6}H_{13}N.
According to this view hyoscyamine ought to be the hyoscinate of
hyoscine, or at any rate an isomer of this body. It is to be remarked
that they compare hyoscinic acid not with tropic acid, of which it
possesses the composition, but with atropic acid, C_{9}H_{8}O_{2}. I
have worked with the hyoscyamine of both Merck and Trommsdorff, as well
as with a product which I obtained from hyoscyamus seeds myself. The
best way of purifying the alkaloid is by recrystallizing its gold salt
several times, so as to obtain it in brilliant yellow plates, melting
at 320 deg. F. By passing a stream of hydrosulphuric acid gas through the
liquor the gold is precipitated in the form of sulphide. The liquid is
filtered and evaporated, precipitated by an excess of a strong solution
of potassium carbonate, and the alkaloid extracted by chloroform.
The solution is dried over carbonate of potassium, and part of the
chloroform is distilled off. By leaving the solution to evaporate
spontaneously the alkaloid is obtained in silky crystals. The crystals
are then dissolved in alcohol, which, on being poured into water, parts
with them in the same form.
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