Ergot alkaloids Ergotoxine

A brief historical overview to see how we got here may be of interest. Dale (1906) provided the first experimental evidence of two types of sympathetic responses by establishing that one of them, the pressor effect of EP (in the spinal cat) could be abolished with ergot alkaloids (ergotoxine), leaving only the depressor action, which is an apparent reversal. The interpretation then was that pressor activity (i.e., vasoconstriction) is the predominant effect of EP, and the vasodilation (i.e., blood pressure fall) appears when ergot blocks the vasoconstrictor component. Dale further established that excitatory responses of var-... 

The first reversed-phase separation of ergot alkaloids was reported by Jane and Wheals in connection with the analysis of LSD. Pellicular beads with chemically bonded octadecyl groups were used in combination with methanol - 0.1% aqueous ammonium carbonate (3 2) as mobile phase However, the mobile phase proposed by Vivilecchia et al.6 for the separation of the dihydro-ergotoxine alkaloids on octadecyl columns (acetonitrile - aqueous ammonium carbonate) has been... 

The present invention relates to the production of ergot alkaloids, especially of ergometrine and of ergotoxine of high ergocristine content by biosynthesis more particularly it provides a process for the preparation of such ergot alkaloids by cultivating a specific strain of Claviceps purpurea on a synthetic nutrient medium. 

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