Chemical examination of the root of Ipomoea orizabensis / by Frederick B. Power and Harold Rogerson.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927.
Date:
1912
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Chemical examination of the root of Ipomoea orizabensis / by Frederick B. Power and Harold Rogerson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    and divergent. With consideration of the facts already known, it is obvious that the resin in question cannot be regarded as a definite compound, or represented by any one of the numerous formulae hitherto assigned to it. As the present authors have recently shown (J. Amcr. Chem. Soc., 1910, 32, 80) that the true jalap resin (from Ipomoea Purga, Hayne), commonly designated convolvulin,” does not consist of a single definite glucoside, but is an exceedingly complex mixture, the constituents of which are not entirely glucosidic, it was thought probable that the same conditions would exist with regard to other convolvulaceous resins, and the correctness of this conclusion has now been rendered evident. Although the primary object of the present investigation of “ Mexican Scammony Root ” was to determine more exactly the chemical characters of the resin prepared therefrom, consideration has also been taken of its other constituents. Experimental. The material employed for this investigation consisted of a bale of the so-called “ Mexican Scammony Root,” which conformed in its characters to the recorded description (loc. cit.) of the root of I porno ea orizabensis, Ledanois, and its authenticity was kindly confirmed by Mr. E. M. Holmes, F.L.S. As a preliminary experiment, 50 grams of the ground material were successively extracted in a Soxhlet apparatus with various solvents, when the following amounts of extract, dried at 100°, were obtained: Petroleum (b. p. 40—60°) extracted 0'55 gram = 1 TO percent. Ether 11 4-92 „ = 984 „ Chloroform 11 0-48 „ = 0-96 „ Alcohol 11 5-09 „ = 10T8 „ Total 11’04 grams = 22'08 per cent. Determination of the Total Resin.—Fifty grams of the ground root were completely extracted with hot alcohol in a Soxhlet apparatus. To the liquid thus obtained, 25 c.c. of water were added, the alcohol then evaporated, and the separated resin thor- oughly washed with hot water, after which it was dried in a water- oven until of constant weight. The mean of two nearly concordant determinations was an amount equivalent to 14’55 per cent, of resin in the root. The proportion of this crude resin which was soluble in ether, as determined by its complete extraction in a Soxhlet apparatus, was equivalent to 71 per cent, of its weight.