Z-a-Narcotine

Z-a-Narcotine was probably first observed by Derosne in 1804 (87), but its isolation may be attributed to Robiquet (88), who assigned to it the formula C23H26O7N. The accepted formula was first proposed by Mat-thiessen and Foster (89). The alkaloid opianine (90, 91) was shown by Hesse (92, 93) to be narcotine. A base regarded by Wertheim (94) as a homologue of narcotine has not been encountered again. 

The new Z-hydrastine is considered to be Z- -hydrastine and natural hydrastine to be Z-j8-hydrastine, which implies (1) that the latter differs from natural narcotine (Z-a-narcotine) in stereochemical configmation (2) that since a-gnoscopine, but not )S-gnoscopine, can be resolved, the synthesis of natmal hydrastine will involve the deracemisation of hydra-stine-b, to Z- -hydrastine, whieh ean be epimerised to natural hydrastine (Z-)S-hydrastine) by boiling with methyl-alcoholic potassium hydroxide. 

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