1.0g of ergotinine was dissolved in 20ml of N-methyl alcoholic KOH and the methanol was removed at once by distillation at low pressure. The residue was treated with 20ml of an 8% aqueous solution of KOH and the mixture was heated on a steam-bath for 1 hour. A stream of nitrogen was passed through the flask during the heating and basic volatile material from the reaction mix was collected by passing the gas through a solution of dilute HCl acid.
Where in that does it show water? Maybe swim should reask his question. In regards to NaOH/KOH, where it is the same method for eperimization and hydrolysis in lysergic acid preperations, could the novel potassium metal/anhydrous methanol/ether method of eperimization be somehow used or modified to be used as the hydrolysis procedure? Eperimization and hydrolysis using NaOH/KOH have similar yeilds, so SWIM is hoping that the K/methanol/ether eperimization method that yeilds something like 95% can be somehow used for the hydrolysis prep to get better yeilds over the existing best method, using tetrabutylammonium hydroxide, which isn't watched, but is known for specific use in lysergic acid preps and could ring some sort of suspicion bell. (plus if it can be modified, it'd supercede the tetrabutylammonium hydroxide method in terms of yeild.)