The constituents of the leaves of prunus serotina / by Frederick B. Power and Charles W. Moore.

  • Power, Frederick B. (Frederick Belding), 1853-1927
Date:
[1910?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The constituents of the leaves of prunus serotina / by Frederick B. Power and Charles W. Moore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    3/18
    XCI.—The Constituents of the Leaves of Primus Serotina. By Frederick Belding Power and Charles Watson Moore. The leaves of Primus serotina, Ehrhart, commonly known as the Wild Black Cherry, have hitherto never been subjected to a complete chemical examination, and apparently the only informa¬ tion concerning them is a statement by Procter (Proc. Amer. Pharm. Assoc., 1858, 6, 325) that, when macerated with water and distilled, they yield a volatile oil and hydrocyanic acid. As the constituents of the bark of Primus serotina were recently made the subject of a thorough investigation by the present authors (Trans., 1909, 95, 243), it seemed desirable also to examine the leaves of this tree. It has thus been ascertained that the leaves contain the same cyanogenetic compound as the bark, namely, ^-mandelonitrile glucoside, although in relatively smaller amount, but, as was antici¬ pated, there are interesting differences with respect to the other constituents. A complete summary of the results of the present investigation is given at the end of this paper. Experimental. * 1{ 0\ 4 j ti 3i i; The material employed in this investigation consisted of the air- dried leaves of Prunus serotina, Ehrhart, which had been very kindly supplied to us by Professor J. U. Lloyd, of Cincinnati, Ohio, to whom our thanks are due. The leaves were gathered under the personal supervision of Professor Lloyd during the month of August, at a time when they were fully matured, and when the fruit of the tree was ripe. In order to determine the amount of hydrogen cyanide yielded by the leaves, a portion (25 grams) of the finely-crushed material was macerated with water in a tightly closed flask for several days at a temperature of 20—25°. Steam was then passed through the mixture, and the distillate collected in a very dilute solution of sodium hydroxide. After the addition of a little sodium chloride, the product of distillation was titrated with a decinormal solution of silver nitrate. The amount of the latter solution required for 25 grams of material was 0'4 c.c., being thus equivalent to 0‘0086 per cent, of HCN. A portion of the leaves was tested for the presence of an alkaloid, but with a negative result. Twenty grains of the crushed leaves were successively extracted