Alkaloids salts

Ergonovine (100, R = NHCH(CH3)CH2 0H) was found to yield lysergic acid (100, R = OH) and (+)-2-aminopropanol on alkaline hydrolysis during the early analysis of its stmcture (66) and these two components can be recombined to regenerate the alkaloid. Salts of ergonovine with, for example, malic acid are apparently the dmgs of choice in the control and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage. 

Most alkaloids exist in nature not in their free-base form but rather as the salt of naturally occurring acids known as tannins, a group of phenol-based organic acids that have complex structures. The alkaloid salts of these acids are usually much more soluble in hot water than in cold water. The caffeine in coffee and tea exists in the form of the tannin salt, which is why coffee and tea are more effectively brewed in hot water. As Figure 12.19 relates, tannins are also responsible for the stains caused by these beverages. 

Alkaloid salts are not very soluble in the organic solvent diethyl ether. What might happen to the free-base form of caffeine dissolved in diethyl ether if gaseous hydrogen chloride, HC1, were bubbled into the solution ... 

Effect of Modifiers on Desorption of Alkaloidal Salts from Matrix 426... 

This chapter documents enhancements of the efficiency of SFE extraction of alkaloids from plant matrices using basified modifiers. Hence (1) The pure compound solubility of some free bases in pure supercritical C02 has been measured by investigating the effects of temperature, pressure or density of C02 (2) The solubilities of the alkaloidal salts were compared with those of their free bases in order to evaluate the difference of their solubilities influenced by a changing from free bases to salts (3) Polar solvents such as methanol and water, as initial modifiers, were used for the enhancement of the solubilities (4) The solubilities of the salts by non-basified modifiers such as neat methanol or water were compared with those of methanol or water basified with diethylamine (5) The effect of modifiers employed on the desorption of the compounds from a matrix were measured and compared with each other (5) On the basis of the results of pure compound extractability, SFE was performed on alkaloids from the plant... 

Although there were some differences on the effects of temperature and pressure according to each particular compound, the free bases of hyoscyamine (1), scopolamine (2), and pseudoephedrine (6) were all found to be highly soluble in supercritical CO,. However, the hydrochloride salts of these compounds were scarcely extracted by pure CO, under any conditions employed. These results were consistent with preliminary evidence indicating that these alkaloids are not extracted from plant materials by pure CO,. This means that the alkaloids in living cells in the plant are not in the form of their free bases but rather as water-soluble salts in the cell vacuole [40]. Therefore, it was necessary to develop a procedure to enhance the solubilities of alkaloidal salts in CO,. 

Modifying Effect of Methanol and Water on the Solubility of Alkaloidal Salts... 

To improve supercritical C02 solubilities of target alkaloidal salts, an appropriate modifier to raise the polarity of C02 had to be used. As previously mentioned, the most common modifier used in SFE is methanol because of its high solvation parameters, which can greatly increase the resultant polarity of C02. Water has been chosen as another modifier because some alkaloidal salts are freely soluble in water as well as methanol. Moreover, the addition of water into C02 has been reported to improve the extraction yield of some alkaloids [29]. Methanol or water as a modifier was added into the extractor at the concentration levels of 1, 5 and 10% (v/v), respectively. The effect of methanol and water on the solubilities of hyoscyamine (1) and scopolamine (2) is shown in Figure 5. Analogous information on ephedrine derivatives such as methylephedrine (3), norephedrine (4), ephedrine (5), and pseudopehedrine is illustrated in Figure 6. 

While increasing the concentration of water did not show any significant influence, the addition of a greater proportion of methanol yielded great enhancements in the resultant solubilities of the alkaloids, except for methylephedrine (3). These observations may be due to the fact that water is not so miscible as methanol in CO, (Figure 7). Therefore, water was less effective than methanol in terms of the enhancement of the SFE efficiency. Even though the addition of methanol in CO, resulted in slight improvements in solubilities, they were still poor, hence another modifier to enhance the solubilities of the alkaloidal salts was required. 

Generally, alkaloidal salts are insoluble in nonpolar solvents but their free bases are quite soluble in the solvents. Therefore, the basified modifier should be introduced into the SFE to solubilize alkaloids in CO,. For the evaluation of the effects of basified modifiers, diethylamine was added to methanol or water at a 10% (v/v) concentration level. Then, the basified modifiers were continuously incorporated into the extraction cell at concentrations of 1, 5, and 10 % (v/v). The effects of methanol basified with diethylamine as a modifier on the solubilities of hyoscyamine (1) and scopolamine (2) are shown in Figure 8. The addition of diethylamine (10% v/v) into methanol dramatically enhanced the solubilities of the alkaloidal hydrochloride salts compared with those of pure methanol alone. This may be due to the fact that methanol basified with diethylamine changed the salts to the free bases. 

In spite of the difficulty in definitely characterizing alkaloids by definition, they do have a surprising number of physical and chemical properties in common. For the most part, the alkaloids are insoluble or sparingly so in water but form salts (by metathesis or addition) that are usually freely soluble. The free alkaloids are usually soluble in ether or chloroform, or other immiscible solvents, in which, however, the alkaloidal salts are insoluble. This permits the isolation and purification of the alkaloids as well as their quantitative estimation. Most of the alkaloids are crystalline solids, although a few are either amorphous (coniine, nicotine, sparteine) or liquid. It is interesting to note that the liquid alkaloids have no oxygen in their molecules. Alkaloidal salts are invariably crystalline, and their crystal form and habit are often useful in their rapid microscopical identification (Sollmann, 1944). 

Thus, in general, the aldol reaction proceeds in the presence of 10 mol% cinchona alkaloid salts of type 31, although enantioselectivity does not exceed 62% ee [65, 66],... 

Threshed roots of Rauwolfia canescens L. extracted with 5% solution of acetic acid at room temperature for 24 h. Then extract was decanted to flask. This extract was alkalified with ammonia (alkaloid salts were converted to alkaloid bases). The obtained thus method solution was extracted with chloroform 3 or more times. Then chloroform extract was chromatographed on column through Al203 sorbent. After chromatography ajmalin was obtained, which had melting point at 205°C (recyrstallization from methanol). 

Acid Sulfates. Pasteur 6 and also Le Bel4 fractionated the cinchonine salts of the mixture of amyl hydrogen sulfates derived from fusel oil and effected a partial separation of the structurally isomeric alcohols. Krtiger 41 failed to resolve the alkaloid salts of the hydrogen sulfate of ethyl-n-propylcarbinol but Meth,42 after failures in other instances, finally effected a partial resolution of a-butyl hydrogen sulfate as the brucine salt. The method has proved to be impracticable for most alcohols 48 because the majority of alkyl hydrogen sulfates are unstable and inconvenient to handle. 

After removal of barium sulfate and fractionation of the alkaloid salts, the glycol sulfate ester is recovered as alkali salt and saponified -with alkali.48, 48 The method is tedious and not yet well developed, but it may be noted that the glycols cannot be resolved by the phthalic ester procedure described below because they tend to form polymeric esters instead of simple hydrogen phthalates when treated with phthalic anhydride. 

The hydrogen succinates are prepared by procedures closely similar to those followed for the phthalates, except that succinic anhydride is used.10 The crude ester is best taken up at once in ether or benzene, and the solution is washed with water to remove succinic acid. The hydrogen succinates are more soluble in the usual solvents than the corresponding phthalates and often do not crystallize readily. Their alkaloid salts also... 

B. A sample solution, when added to a solution of an alkaloidal salt, albumin, or gelatin, produces a precipitate. Assay Not less than 96% of Tannic Acid, calculated on the dried basis. 

Figure 4.49. Structures of the chiral acids listed as cinchona alkaloid salts in the CSD and the corresponding reference codes.

Synthesis of Optically Active Epoxides. Alkaloids and alkaloid salts have been successfully used as catalysts for the asymmetric synthesis of epoxides. The use of chiral catalysts such as quinine or quinium benzylchloride (QUIBEC) have allowed access to optically active epoxides through a variety of reaction conditions, including oxidation using Hydrogen Peroxide (eq 5), Darzens condensations (eq 6), epoxidation of ketones by Sodium Hypochlorite (eq 7), halohydrin ring closure (eq 8), and cyanide addition to a-halo ketones (eq 9). Although the relative stereochemistry of most of the products has not been determined, enan-tiomerically enriched materials have been isolated. A more recent example has been published in which optically active 2,3-epoxycyclohexanone has been synthesized by oxidation with t-Butyl Hydroperoxide in the presence of QUIBEC and the absolute stereochemistry of the product established (eq 10). ... 

Chiral chalcones are formed in the reaction of phenacyl halides and p-substituted benzaldehyde or sodium cyanide in the presence of cinchona alkaloid salts under phase-transfer conditions.In a similar reaction, the asymmetric induction and the stereoselectivity have been investigated on a polymer matrix, when predominantly (E)-derivatives 76 were formed. ... 

Splitting Racemic Compounds.—The methods by which racemic compounds may be split into their optically active components are several. The three methods used were all originated by Pasteur. The first method has been referred to and consists of the mechanical separation of the two oppositely hemi-hedral forms in which the salts of a racemic compound crystallize. This method is especially applicable in the case of tartaric acid when the sodium-ammonium salt is used. The crystallization and separation must be carried out under definite conditions. If the racemic acid salt is crystallized below 28° the two forms of crystals are produced and a separation can be accomplished. If, however, the crystallization takes place above 28° the two forms of crystals are not produced but the sodium-ammonium racemate crystallizes in unseparable crystals of one form. That is, above 28° the sodium-ammonium racemate crystallizes as such, while, below 28° the racemate splits into its two isomeric components and equal amouts of the sodium-ammonium dextro tartrate and the sodium-ammonium levo tartrate are formed. The second method for the splitting of a racemic compound into its optically active components consists of the formation of the cinchonine, strychnine, or other similar alkaloid salts. When the cinchonine salt of racemic acid is formed it splits into the... 

Norman has tabulated the constants for various derivatives of the uronic acids and has summarized previous work on their identification. The free acids or their lactones have been used for the purpose of identification. The quinine, brucine, and cinchonine salts" have also been used for this purpose, although their isolation in pure form is hindered by the presence of the corresponding alkaloidal salts of the low polymers of the acid. Some of the complex hydrazines have been used to identify the acids. p-Bromophenylhydrazine has been frequently used for this purpose. One difficulty in the use of hydrazines is that they may form numerous types of derivatives such as salts, hydrazides, hydrazones and osazones. 

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