solubility of ergots

[oio]

Hi!
I'm looking for solubility of ergots. The is no clear info. Same info is quite differ in other source.
All my knowledge is:
1. base
good - acetone, CHCl3, CH2Cl2, CCl4, DMFA, EtOH, MeOH
? - hexane, EtAc, BuAc, C6H6, Et2O, water, AcOH
2. tartrate
good - water
? - EtOH, MeOH, AcOH, DMFA

It's a great problem to isolate ergots correctly.
Great Thanks.

[bottleneck]

What you probably mean is the solubility of ergolene derivatives?

Peptide alkaloids from Claviceps purpurea, like ergotamine, are typically extracted with chloroform, and are very soluble in solvents like this.

"Water soluble" lysergic acid amides, like those from morning glories and Claviceps paspali are also first extracted with chloroform or similar, but using much larger volumes than for the peptide alkaloids.

So it depends on the nature of the alkaloids which way to extract.

After extraction, extract the chloroform with for example aqueous tartaric or maleic acid, or even dilute hydrochloric acid.

There is a good example for extracting Claviceps paspali culture in

Patent US3038840

("Process for the production of alkaloid derivatives of lysergic acid"), beginning in column 4, line 10.

[oio]

Sorry for slang. Of course I’ve mean ergolene derivatives.
All patents are using native products, but my problem is to get subj from mix of ergometrine, caffeine, atropine, barbiturate, dextrin …
So, all of useful solvents are unusable. But there is no clear info about.
So...

[bottleneck]

A thousand thanks, dear Sir. Extract with active charcoal, why don't we just? But of course!

I think you're right about the amides. It is generally mentioned, at least in the reviews I have read on the subject, that lysergic acid is never found in ergot culture. So I suppose Sandoz was fiddling with some new strain producing lysergic acid directly, or, as you suggest, they were hydrolyzing the entire culture broth before doing their charcoal thing.

But who knows it this will work with amides? I think it's worth a try, potentially saving a lot of solvent.

About dichloroethane or chloroform? I'd say chloroform, just because it is less soluble in the water, so you'll lose less. I don't think it makes much difference, though, because if you just extract the water enough times, you'll eventually get all the amides no matter what because they are less soluble in the water, and even if they weren't it wouldn't matter.

[bottleneck]

Oio, would those adulterants even make much of a difference? I know that dextrin is nasty, though.

editedit: Basically, you shouldn't have any problems. Just find out the form of the drugs in the mixture (i.e., whether salts or free bases), and just devise a succession of extractions based on your knowledge of the solubility of these compounds. Barbiturates are not very soluble in water, but their salts are. So to separate a mixture of, say, phenobarbitone and ergometrine maleate, just extract with water, in which the former is quite insoluble and the latter is very soluble. Hey presto.

[oio]

The most problem not dextrine or barbiturates, but caffeine and atropine. They have a same solubility. It's impossible to make hydrolysis well if they are together.

[bottleneck]

My point was, why not first get rid of one thing, then another, and so on?

But anyway, I don't think they would hurt the process of hydrolysis. The process might actually be an efficient way of destroying the atropine.

[bbell]

[Lilienthal]

Percentages in chemistry are always weight / weight percentages (a.k.a "% (w/w)") if not stated otherwise. When it says methanol it probably means methanol   , i.e. completely anhydrous 10% (w/w) gaseous NH₃ dissolved in methanol.

[Lilienthal]

 so then...