Page:The Harveian oration 1888.djvu/30

 22

If now we take trimethylamine and combine it with the next cyan-alcohol in the series, the ethylic, cholin should be the result —

[OH /OH

N(0H3)3 + C,hJ +H,0 =C,h' +HCN

VCN In(CH3)30H

trimethylamine ethylic cyan-alcohol cholin,

for cholin has been formed synthetically in the laboratory by

roH

heating ethylene chlorhydrin C^H^j with trimethylamine,

and the same reaction should hold good for the cyan-hydrin or cyan-alcohol.

Neurin differs from cholin by H^O, and the former can be obtained by heating cholin with hydriodic acid and then acting upon it with moist silver oxide : —

rHO (OH

c,hJ =c^bA +nfi

In(CH3)3.H0 ^N(CH3)3

cholin neurin.

By oxidising cholin (by gently heating its hydrochloride or

platino-chloride with strong nitric acid) we obtain muscarine : —

(HO ((OH),

CAl +o = ch,.ch]

^N(CH3)3.H0 In.(CH3)3.0H

cholin muscarine hydroxide.

Oxidised in a different fashion cholin is converted into betain,

the alkaloid of beet root : —

(HO /CO

C^hJ -(-0 = CH2«^ +H2O

In(CH3)3H0 'n(CH3)30

cholin betain,

a substance which has also been found, by Liebreich, in the human urine.