Cuscohygrine
Encyclopedia
Cuscohygrine is a pyrrolidine
Pyrrolidine
Pyrrolidine, also known as tetrahydropyrrole, is an organic compound with the molecular formula C4H9N. It is a cyclic secondary amine with a five-membered heterocycle containing four carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom...

 alkaloid
Alkaloid
Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

 found in coca
Coca
Coca, Erythroxylum coca, is a plant in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. The plant plays a significant role in many traditional Andean cultures...

. It can be extracted from plants of the family Solanaceae
Solanaceae
Solanaceae are a family of flowering plants that include a number of important agricultural crops as well as many toxic plants. The name of the family comes from the Latin Solanum "the nightshade plant", but the further etymology of that word is unclear...

 as well, including Atropa belladonna (deadly nightshade), Datura inoxia
Datura inoxia
Datura inoxia is a species in the family Solanaceae. It is native to Central and South America, and introduced in Africa, Asia, Australia and Europe. The scientific name is often cited as D. innoxia...

and Datura stramonium
Datura stramonium
Datura stramonium, known by the common names Jimson weed, devil's trumpet, devil's weed, thorn apple, tolguacha, Jamestown weed, stinkweed, locoweed, datura, pricklyburr, devil's cucumber, Hell's Bells, moonflower and, in South Africa, malpitte and mad seeds, is a common weed in the...

(jimson weed). Cuscohygrine usually comes with other, more potent alkaloids like atropine
Atropine
Atropine is a naturally occurring tropane alkaloid extracted from deadly nightshade , Jimson weed , mandrake and other plants of the family Solanaceae. It is a secondary metabolite of these plants and serves as a drug with a wide variety of effects...

 or cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

.

Cuscohygrine (along with the related metabolite
Metabolite
Metabolites are the intermediates and products of metabolism. The term metabolite is usually restricted to small molecules. A primary metabolite is directly involved in normal growth, development, and reproduction. Alcohol is an example of a primary metabolite produced in large-scale by industrial...

 hygrine
Hygrine
Hygrine is a pyrrolidine alkaloid, found mainly in coca leaves . It was first isolated by Carl Liebermann in 1889 as an alkaloid accompanying cocaine in coca. Hygrine is extracted as a thick yellow oil, having a pungent taste and odor....

) was first isolated by Carl Liebermann in 1889 as an alkaloid accompanying cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...

 in coca
Coca
Coca, Erythroxylum coca, is a plant in the family Erythroxylaceae, native to western South America. The plant plays a significant role in many traditional Andean cultures...

 leaves (also known as Cusco
Cusco
Cusco , often spelled Cuzco , is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Urubamba Valley of the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cusco Region as well as the Cuzco Province. In 2007, the city had a population of 358,935 which was triple the figure of 20 years ago...

-leaves).

Cuscohygrine is an oil, which can be distilled without decomposition only in vacuum. It is easily soluble in water and forms an optically inactive crystalline hydrate C13H24N2O·3H2O, which melts at 40-41 °C.
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