On the action of apomorphine and apocodeine : with reference to their value as expectorants in the treatment of chronic bronchitis / by William Murrell.

  • Murrell, William, 1853-1912.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the action of apomorphine and apocodeine : with reference to their value as expectorants in the treatment of chronic bronchitis / by William Murrell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    experienced some difficulty in arriving at any definite result, lu 1870 Matthiessen and Burnside published a paper ^' on the Action of Chloride of Zinc on Codeia, in which they describe in minute detail the method of obtaining apocodeine when hydrochlorate of codeia is heated for fifteen minutes at a temperature of from 170° to 180° C. with a concentrated solution of chloride of zinc, decomposition taking place according to the reaction: (codeine, NO2, apocodeine). On cooling, a yellowisli-brown tarry mass separates from the liquid, and may on further cooling be drawn into thin threads, and obtained almost free from the excess of chloride of zinc. This amorphous silk-like mass is almost pure hydrochlorate of apocodeine. To obtain the base the hydrochlorate is dissolved in hot water and precipitated by hydrochloric acid. The liquid containing the precipitated hydrochlorate is allowed to cool, and the precipitate on solidi- fying is separated from the acid solution. The operation of dissolving and reprecipitating with hydrochloric acid is repeated several times, and lastly the hydrochlorate is dis- solved in water, precipitated with carbonate of sodium, and the base extracted with ether. On evaporating the solution in ether, the base remains behind as an amorphous gum-like reddish mass, which is subsequently powdered and dried in a water bath. Apocodeine itself is soluble in alcohol, ether, and chloro- form, but is almost insoluble in water, and has not been obtained in a crystalline form. The hydrochlorate obtained by shaking the solution of the pure base in ether with hydro- chloric acid and evaporating to dryness is freely soluble in water, but is not crystalline. The action of reagents on apo- morphine and on apocodeine is almost identical, with the exception that the blood-red colour yielded with nitric acid is much more permanent with apocodeine than with apo- morphine. Between the two bases a marked difference was found to exist with respect to stability, apocodeine being in this respect far in advance of apomorphine; the hydro- chlorates also differ, for tlie apomorphine salt is crystalline whilst the apocodeine is amorphous. The preparation of apocodeine is easy and simple, yielding a very large product, and in this respect, too, it differs very materially from apo- morphine, the preparation of which is tedious whilst the yield is uncertain. The apocodeine prepared by Matthiessen and Burnside was submitted for examination to Dr. J. Wickham Legg, who, in a paper entitled Observations on the Physiological Action of Apocodeia and of the Hydrochlorate of Cotarnamic Acid,'''' reported that when given in doses of 1, 2, or 3 grains to a healthy man no appreciable effect was produced. He added : It is obvious that apocodeine is wholly unfitted for sub- cutaneous injection. In the only instance in which it was practised -rV of a grain injected under the skin of the forearm produced great redness, tingling, and considerable suffering for more than a week. His observations appear not to have been carried beyond this point. Dr. Dujardin-Beaumetz states that apocodeine possesses all the therapeutic properties of apomorpnine, but in a modified degree. He says that it is an emetic, and has been found useful in the treatment of haemoptysis, croup, and whooping- 31 Ibid., vol. xix, p. 71. SI. Bartholomew's HospUal Reports, vol. vi, p 97