Activity in the Course of Putrefaction

It has already been shown, in the chapter on the amidases, by what chemical reactions ammonia and the volatile fatty adds are produced. The liberation of the fatty amines, like mono-ethylamine, probably results from the activity of spedal amid-ases, acting this time on amino-adds substituted in the NH2 group. At least that is what is observed with trimethylamine, which is derived from betain. The aromatic adds and oxyadds come from the decomposition of amino-adds with a benzene or indol nucleus, in the same manner as occurs with the corresponding members in the fatty series. We have, for example  

In the same way /-oxyphenolpropionic acid gives p-oxy-phenylacetic add, and indolpropionic acid furnishes indolacetic or scatolcarbonic acid. 

It is to a process of this nature that is due the formation of cresol and phenol, these bodies resulting from the decomposition of aromatic oxyacids, which thus play the part of intermediate products. We have  

Likewise, the formation of scatol and indol is explained by analogous reactions  

indol and scatol result from the progressive transforma-tiort of tryptophane. F. Hopkins and W. Cole have verified this experimentally by showing that the action of the bacteria on tryptophane that is added to a gelatin undergoing putrefaction gives indol, scatol, scatol-carbonic acid, and scatol-acetic acid. If th.e fermentation is well carried out, the scatol may reach 65 per cent of the theoretical yield. Moreover, E. and H. Salkowski lia.d. already previously recogni2ied that the basic material for the production of scatol is scatol-carbonic add, which they had isolated from products of putrefaction of albuminoids. 

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