Some years ago, O. Hesse, when preparing chinamine from the renewed
bark of _Cinchona succirubra_, found in the mother liquid a new
alkaloid, which he then briefly designated as conchinamine. He has
lately given his attention to the separation and preparation of this
alkaloid, and gives in Liebig's _Annalen der Chemie_, August 31, 1881,
the following description of it:
_Preparation._--The alcoholic mother lye from chinamine is evaporated
down and protractedly exhausted with boiling ligroine, whereby
conchinamine and a small quantity of certain amorphous bases are
dissolved out. Upon cooling the greater part of the amorphous bases
precipitates out. The ligroine solution is then first treated with
dilute acetic acid, and then with a dilute solution of caustic soda,
whereupon a large quantity of a resinous precipitate is formed. This
is kneaded up with lukewarm water to remove adherent soda, and then
dissolved in hot alcohol. The alcoholic solution is saturated with
nitric acid, which has been previously diluted with half its volume of
water, and the whole set aside for a few days to crystallize. The
crystals of conchinamine nitrate are purified by recrystallization
from boiling water. On dissolving these pure crystals of the nitrate
in hot alcohol of 60 per cent., and adding ammonia, absolute pure
conchinamine separates out on cooling.
_Composition._--Conchinamine may be represented by the formula
C_{19}H_{24}N_{2}O_{2}, without water of crystallization.
_Properties._--Conchinamine is easily soluble in hot alcohol of 60 per
cent., and in ether and ligroine, from which solutions it crystallizes
in quadrilateral shining prisms. It is extremely soluble in
chloroform, but almost insoluble in water. It melts at 121° C.,
forming crystalline stars on cooling.
_Salts._--The salts of conchinamine, like the base itself, have much
in common with chinamine, but are, as a rule, more easily
crystallizable. They are prepared by neutralizing an alcoholic
solution of the base with the acid in question.--_Chemist and
Druggist._
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