This article is only available in the PDF format. Download the PDF to view the article, as well as its associated figures and tables.
This volume is a scholarly presentation of the historical and present ramifications of the chemistry of the morphine alkaloids, although the author has confined his discussion mainly to the derivatives of morphine, codeine, and thebaine. One of the chapters is concerned with sinomenine, an alkaloid obtained from the roots of the Japanese plant Sinomenium diversifolium. Certain other alkaloids containing a phenanthrene nucleus are also discussed in this chapter, such as the interesting alkaloid hasubanonine from Stephania japonica. The author confines his discussion of the morphine alkaloids entirely to the isolation and chemistry of the alkaloids and other derivatives. Much space is devoted to the subjecting of the various alkaloids to classical chemical reactions such as Hoffman degradation and ozonolysis. In addition, one finds an exhaustive listing, with physical properties, of the various derivatives that have been prepared from such important alkaloids as morphine, codeine, and thebaine. The author has included