Abstract
INDEPENDENT investigations in our respective laboratories have resulted in the isolation from perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) of a new constituent with unusual optical properties. Further study has shown that the material is an alkaloid of empirical formula (hydrochloride) C36H22O3N4 (OCH3)4.2HCl. It yields precipitatos with all the usual alkaloidal reagents and is soluble in alcohol and chloroform, slightly soluble in acetone, ether and water. Dilute solutions of the base in chloroform are golden yellow, with a green fluorescence which can be detected in ordinary daylight at concentrations of 1 in 5 × 106. The alkaloid is reduced by titanous chloride to a colourless material which can be quantitatively reoxidized by ferricyanide. The name perloline is proposed for this fluorescent alkaloid.
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MELVILLE, J., GRIMMETT, R. Isolation of a New Alkaloid from Perennial Ryegrass. Nature 148, 782 (1941). https://doi.org/10.1038/148782a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/148782a0
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