A study of picrotoxin chemistry and some of its derivatives

Abstract

Picrotoxin is the bitter convolus principle of the Coculus berry found in the East Indies. It can be resolved into two components Picrotin and Picrotoxinin, probably a loose molecular compound. Picrotoxin = Picrotin + Picrotoxinin C30H34O13 C15H18O7 C15H16O6 The chemical investigation of picrotoxin started to get a foothold in chemical literature in the latter part of the nineteenth century. From then onwards many workers in the field of picrotoxin have tried to puzzle out from the mass of derivatives, transformations and degradations some sort of structual formula for it. The latest formulae put forward,is by Conroy of Harvard University U.S.A. for the structure of picrotoxinin. More however will be said about Conroy's formula in the next section. Picrotoxin is used in medicine as an antidote for barbiturate poisoning since it arrests the saporific action of these substances, and there have been many references in recent medical journals of its success in this application. Its use for adulterating beer was known back in the middle of the nineteenth century; East Indies natives used it for poisoning fish. It would seem from the medical point of view, very interesting to know the true structure so that a less highly toxic and thus a less dangerous drug could eventually be synthesised for curative purposes.