Extraction of coniine.

hello

The Coniine is a violent poison extracted from the Hemlock. it is an Alkaloid.
It is like curar because it paralyze the nervous system. It was used in the Antiquity to kill the bad politician.(Socrate have drunk the Hemlock). The Hemlock is a very toxic common plant in Europe but less in America
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Does someone knows how to extract Coniine from Hemlock ?


Thank You.

Quote:

Originally posted by Sean Ambrose hello The Coniine is a violent poison extracted from the Hemlock. it is an Alkaloid. It is like curar because it paralyze the nervous system. It was used in the Antiquity to kill the bad politician.(Socrate have drunk the Hemlock). The Hemlock is a very toxic common plant in Europe but less in America . Does someone knows how to extract Coniine from Hemlock ? Thank You.

You can reinvent the wheel but for alkaloids they have sometimes very particular properties that are used for isolation...know that when you have plant juice ...it contains more than 1000 molecules and you try to pick one or two in the lot...by playing with pH and the amphiphilic character of alkaloids ...you are able to restrain the amount of molecules you have to a few dozens...the the good knowledge of the chemical properties of the interest molecule allows you to isolate it...usually several chromatography must be used ...except if you follow a very good recipe.

And NO ethanol can't be used in place of ether to make a biphasic extraction...because ethanol is amphiphilic and the role of the solvent si to dissolve selectively at a given pH the molecular form or the ionised form of the alkaloid....most extractions of organic acid or bases you have synthetised...follow the principe:
Acid + organic acid --> soluble in organic phase (molecular form)
Base + organic acid --> salt of acid soluble in water (anionic form)

Base + organic base --> soluble in organic phase (molecular form)
Acid + organic vase --> salt of base soluble in water (cationic form)

Of course ethanol can be used to extract all polar and moderately polar molecules + some lipids.

In isolation labs we use various washes ...
petroleum ether
n-hexan (apolar)
ether
Dichloromethane
ethanol
methanol
water

Now note that it is false assumption that all alkaloïds are basic and display alkaline properties...the only similitude alkaloids have are that they display at least a N (nitrogen) atom and give rise to physiological effect.They have moderate molecular size <1000 g/mol).

Quote: Originally posted by FritzHaber

Quote: Originally posted by Sean Ambrose hello The Coniine is a violent poison extracted from the Hemlock. it is an Alkaloid. It is like curar because it paralyze the nervous system. It was used in the Antiquity to kill the bad politician.(Socrate have drunk the Hemlock). The Hemlock is a very toxic common plant in Europe but less in America . Does someone knows how to extract Coniine from Hemlock ? Thank You. 1) coniine isn't THAT toxic...compare its LD (ca. 400-600mg per os) to those of f.e. colchicine (~20mg), or aconitine (5-10mg). both of latter two are aboundant in continental europe flora (Colchicum autumnalis and the Wolfsbane, Aconitum napelus). 2) however, its extraction from the raw material is carried out by the means of steam-distillation from fresh harvested plant segments, and alcalised with addition of caustic soda or lime prior to distillation, just as in the case of nicotine. the collected distillate is then cooled, made acidic by carefull titration with dilute sulfuric acid, the volume of solution is reduced by vacuum evaporation to about a 1/3 - 1/4 of original volume. this concentrated solution is then cooled, its pH adjusted to 9,5 -10,0 (with 4M NaOH), the solution is further saturated with NaCl, cooled to a T below 10°C and extracted by 5 portions of ether. the ether extracts are colected, dryed with anhydrous Na2CO3, the ether is then ditilled off an steambath. you should obtain majority of the original coniine as a stinky oil.