Chemical examination of the bark of euonymus atropurpureus / by Harold Rogerson.

  • Rogerson, Harold.
Date:
[1912?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Chemical examination of the bark of euonymus atropurpureus / by Harold Rogerson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    its copious crimson fruit. The root-bark of the plant has been employed to a considerable extent medicinally, and is recognised by both the British and United States Pharmacopoeias. A crude, resinous product, as well as an alcoholic extract of the drug, has met with somewhat extended use under the name of “ Euonymin,” and this appellation has also been given to various other substances obtained from the bark, all of which, however, appear to have been of a very indefinite character. One of the earliest chemical examinations of Euonymus was by Wenzell (Amer. J. Pharm., 1862, 34, 385), who stated that the bark contained an amorphous, neutral, bitter principle, termed “ euony¬ min,” several resins, organic acids, including the so-called “euonic acid/’ a substance resembling asparagine, sugar, etc. In some notes on the subject by Prescott (ibid., 1878, 50, 563), the euonymin of Wenzell is referred to as a glucoside, and said to have been obtained by Miller as a white, intensely bitter, uncrystallisable solid, but no further information was given respecting its composition or glucosidic character. Schmiedeberg (Arch. exp. Path Pharm., 1883, 16, 163) refers to an hitherto unpublished investigation by Plans Meyer, and records the following statement: “ Euonymin.—A glucoside, sparingly soluble in water, but readily in alcohol, which, in amounts of 1/15—1/10 of a milligram, arrests the action of a frog’s heart in systole. It crystallises in colourless, cauliflower-like masses, which consist of radiating groups of needles, and is found in small amount in the resinoid of the same name from Euonymus atropurpureus.” In a dissertation by G. Romm, Dorpat (Pharm. Centr-h., 1885, 26, 220), it is also recorded that Meyer had obtained a crystalline glucoside from the bark of Euonymus atropurpureus, which agrees in its action with digitalin, and a method was given for its prepara¬ tion (compare van Rjm, “ Die Glykoside,” p. 287). The characters of this substance do not appear, however, to have been further determined, since no melting point or analysis was recorded, nor have any facts been noted which would serve to establish its gluco¬ sidic nature. It was stated by Romm (loc. cit.) that the so-called “ euonymin ” is contained in larger proportion in the bark of the branches than in that of the root of the above-mentioned species of Euonymus, and that there is none of it in Euonymus europaeus, Linne. More recently, Naylor and Chaplin (Year-book of Pharmacy, 1889, 405) examined the bark of Euonymus atropurpureus, and isolated a crystalline substance melting at about 182°, which they regarded as a glucoside, and designated “ atropurpurin.” The same authors (Pharm. J., 1889, [iii], 20, 472) subsequently obtained this