The Chemical Constituents of Piper Methysticum: Or, The Chemical Constituents of the Active Principle of the Ava Root — John Shaqi
The Chemical Constituents of Piper Methysticum: Or, The Chemical Constituents of the Active Principle of the Ava RootBall, Alice A.
Science
The Chemical Constituents of Piper Methysticum: Or, The Chemical Constituents of the Active Principle of the Ava Root
Ball, Alice A.
Kava plant
The crystalline product obtained from the ether extract was
recrystallized several times from absolute alcohol to remove all
traces of any resinous material. It had a melting point of 122-123.
It therefore was not pure methysticin, which has a melting point of
138-139 degrees. On examining this product under the microscope it
was found to contain two distinct forms of crystals, long needles and
prismatic plates. Some free methysticinic acid, melting point 180
was examined under the microscope and found to consist entirely of
prismatic plates. Therefore the original crystalline body contains some
methysticinic acid.
Some of the original precipitate was crystallized once from absolute
alcohol and thoroughly dried. This was used for the following data to
determine the percent of free methysticinic acid in the crystalline
product. A weighed amount of the crystalline product was dissolved in
carefully neutralized alcohol, and titrated with tenth normal NaOH,
using phenolthalein as the indicator.
Wt. of substance used .2590
NaOH N/10 .5 cc
% methysticinic acid.
The potassium salts of the various resin acids formed by the
saponification of the ester resins should yield a resinous mass syrupy
or oily in consistency when acidified, if it consists entirely of the
two groups of acids spoken of as the iron acids and the barium acids.
Also the weight of the barium acids plus the weight of the iron acids
should nearly equal the weight of the ester resins, if these are the
only two acids, because the alcohol radicals constitute not more than
two percent of the ester resins. But when the total potassium salts
were acidified the product formed contained a crystalline substance
in addition to the resinous acids. This crystalline substance was
separated from the resinous acids by means of their difference in
solubility in ether. On recrystallization from absolute alcohol,
it had a melting point of 179 degrees Centigrade. It is therefore
methysticinic acid. This acid constitutes about twenty percent of the
total acids from the ester resins because the barium and iron acids
constitute only about seventy five percent.
This methysticinic acid cannot be entirely formed by hydrolysis of
methysticin which was incompletely removed from the resinous material.
The methysticinic acid existed either combined with some other alcohol
than methyl alcohol or was combined with one of the resin alcohol
radicals.
_PHYSIOLOGICAL ACTION._
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