Chemical examination of grindelia. Pt. 2 / by Frederick B. Power and Frank Tutin.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927
Date:
[1907?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Chemical examination of grindelia. Pt. 2 / by Frederick B. Power and Frank Tutin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Presented to the Scientific Section of the American Pharmaceutical Association at tho Fifty-fifth Annual Meeting, held in New York City, September, 1907. CHEMICAL EXAMINATION OF GRINDELIA. PART II. BY FREDEkICK B. POWER, PH. D., AND FRANK TUT1N. [A Contribution from the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories, London.] In a paper communicated to this Association at the meeting held in Atlantic City, N. J., in September, 1905 (Proc. A. Ph. A., 1905, 33, p. 193), the authors described the results of a general examination of the constituents of Grindelia. The material employed in that investigation consisted of an original bale of the drug obtained from California, and it was stated that it conformed most closely in its characters to the descrip¬ tion ot Grindelia camporum, Greene. That the drug was, in fact, G. camporum, has since been confirmed by Dr. Willis L. Jepson (compare P. E. F. Perredes, Proc. A. Ph. A., 1906,54, p. 3~o). In the above-mentioned communication the isolation of the hydrocarbon hentriacontane, C31H64, and of a new phytosterol (m. p. 1660 C.) were re¬ corded, and it was also noted that the drug contained a considerable amount of /-glucose, together with tannin, amorphous coloring matter, and small amounts of formic acid and an essential oil. It was, however, particularly stated that the chief constituents of Grindelia are amorphous resins, and with the object of more completely examining the latter, es¬ pecially the portion soluble in petroleum, the investigation has been continued. The material used in the present investigation was a further portion of the identical extract of Grindelia which had previously been employed. During the two years which had elapsed since this extract was first ex¬ amined a portion of the chlorophyll had become altered, but otherwise it appeared to be unchanged. The extract was mixed with water and sub¬ jected to steam distillation for the removal of the volatile constituents, after which the cake of resins was separated from the aqueous liquid, and thoroughly washed. These resins were mixed with purified sawdust, the mixture dried, and extracted successively in a Soxhlet apparatus with light petroleum (b. p. 33-50° C.) and ether. The portion of the resins which remained undissolved by this treatment amounted to only about 8 per cent, of the whole. As stated in the previous paper {loc. ci/.), this por¬ tion of the resin appeared to contain nothing crystalline, and being for the most part only soluble in alcohol, it has not been further examined. Examination of the Petroleum Extract of the Resins. The petroleum extract of the resins was, at the ordinary temperature, a soft, very sticky solid, but when warmed it rapidly melted to a thick, oily liquid, which was specifically heavier than water. It was dissolved in a (l)