The constituents of the flowers of Anthemis nobilis / by Frederick Belding Power and Henry Browning, Jun.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927
Date:
1914.]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The constituents of the flowers of Anthemis nobilis / by Frederick Belding Power and Henry Browning, Jun. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/18 (page 1831)
    The whole of this extract was mixed with water and subjected to distillation in a current of steam, when 343 grams of a pale yellow essential oil were obtained, which distilled for the most part between 170° and 210° under ordinary pressure. As this product did not represent a normal oil, and as the latter, obtained by the direct distillation of the flowers with steam, has previously been chemically examined, it was not deemed of further interest. Non-volatile Constituents of the Extract. After the distillation of the extract with steam there remained in the distillation flask a dark brown aqueous liquid (^4), which contained a quantity of suspended resin, together with fatty material which floated on the surface. The aqueous liquid was decanted and filtered, the resin being thus collected, and then thoroughly washed with water, whilst the fatty material was separately treated in a similar manner. The washings having been added to the main portion of the aqueous liquid, the fat and resin were subsequently brought together, and represent the product described as the resin (A). Examination of the Aqueous Liquid (A). The filtered aqueous liquid, on keeping, deposited a small amount of a nearly colourless substance, mixed with some resinous material. This substance was purified by repeated separation from dilute alcohol, when it appeared to be crystalline, and melted at 175—178°, although the liquid did not become clear until a temperature of about 230° was reached. It yielded an acetyl derivative melting at 144°, and evidently consisted of the glucoside of apigenin, which was subsequently isolated in larger amount, and is fully described below. After the removal of the small amount of glucosidic substance the aqueous liquid was concentrated under diminished pressure, and a portion of the liquid which represented 4 kilograms of the original extract was shaken with twelve successive portions of ether. The ethereal extracts were united, and, by the evaporation of a small aliquot portion, were found to contain about 70 grams of solid material, which possessed an intensely bitter taste, but no alkaloid was present. The total ethereal extract, after concen¬ tration, was shaken successively with aqueous ammonium carbon¬ ate, sodium carbonate, and 6odium hydroxide.