Talk:Alkaloid

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Contents 1 Nicotine 2 Layout 3 LSD an alkaloid? 4 the suffix "ine" 5 Categories 6 Pyrrolizidine 7 Alkaloid metabolic pathways 8 Examples in classification section 9 Template help 10 alkaloid definition 11 Mesembrine

[edit] Nicotine

Why is this substance in two groups? __meco 01:34, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

Because it has both a pyridine and a pyrrolidene group. Look at the molecule. —Keenan Pepper 02:13, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

I'm not chemically conversant. I understand however that it's correct the way it currently reads. __meco 18:48, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Layout

The {{Commons}} box looks awful at the top. Can we please not put it there? —Keenan Pepper 09:52, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

Moved back to where it belongs - bottom of article. __meco 11:32, 4 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] LSD an alkaloid?

it does not appear naturally, so why is it included here? if noone objects, I'll remove it. -- Rwst 08:07, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

I'm certainly no authority, however, if LSD is removed on the grounds of it being synthetic, then others must also be removed, for instance MDMA. __meco 23:08, 7 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] the suffix "ine"

The article on cocaine has "The name comes from the name of the coca plant plus the alkaloid suffix -ine". Can this suffix use be confirmed and documented here? TIA,

Jerome Potts 03:35, 21 August 2006 (UTC)

I think noting that many trivial names for alkaloids end in "-ine" is probably uncontroversial enough to be added without a source, although sourcing it would be preferable. We could say something like "many alkaloids have names ending in -amine or simply -ine" for example. Calling "-ine" the alkaloid suffix might not be the best practice though, as many synthetic amines end in "ine" (e.g. drugs with names ending in "amine" or "-caine"). The use of "-in" would be good to document also. Names with "-in", when they occur, seem to be applied to alkaloids discovered in animals (bufotenin aka bufotenine) or fungi (psilocybin), but I think "-ine" may even be more common.--Eloil 01:42, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Categories

I'm adding Category: Chemistry to this article, for obvious reasons. Mihovil 18:42, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

There's no reason to. It's already in Category:Chemistry via Category:Alkaloids → Category:Organic compounds → Category:Organic chemistry → Category:Chemistry. If you really want to put it in another category, why not something more specific, like Category:Amines? —Keenan Pepper 04:42, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Pyrrolizidine

What about pyrrolizidine alkaloids? Does this category merit a mention in the list of alkaloid groups? They are of interest for their hepatotoxicity and have already been mentioned in a number of other articles- for example, borage, comfrey, fuki, Roger Adams. Krnntp 17:20, 1 September 2006 (UTC)

It certainly does. As do the quinolizidines (e.g. the amphibian-derived homopumiliotoxins)Pikiwedian 08:39, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Alkaloid metabolic pathways

I am a novice on this area but would like someone to direct me what to analyse for (not myself but competent biochemists) if I would like to look at the metabolites of an alkaloid, mesembrine. If I want to see if it was taken up in animal metabolic pathways when consumed, what would I look for. or if I need to analyse for residues. Could anyone give me clues? PstrydomPstrydom 13:59, 19 October 2006 (UTC)pstrydom

[edit] Examples in classification section

The classification section could use a bit of cleanup. It is not clear that the examples given are not exhaustive. Also, what are the criteria for choosing specific compounds to list as examples? If it is by their importance, I would suggest adding Synephrine. With the FDA's restrictions on Ephedrine, Synephrine is becoming a popular alternative despite the fact that it may be just as dangerous. 70.100.3.62 03:20, 2 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Template help

If anyone has time, the {{Alkaloids}} would really benefit from your expertise. Thanks! :) Willow 19:07, 27 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] alkaloid definition

Currently the article opens as follows:

An alkaloid, strictly speaking, is a naturally-occurring amine produced by a plant,[1] but amines produced by animals and fungi are also called alkaloids. (...) The name derives from the word alkaline; originally, the term was used to describe any nitrogen-containing base.

The wording of the first sentence seems to suggest that the "strict" definition (must be found in plants) is the most correct somehow, but the third sentence suggests that this interpretation was predated by a much broader one (any nitrogen-containing base). My feeling is that we should go by usage and not by someone's conservative interpretation of what should "strictly" be called an alkaloid. If "alkaloid" is widely used in scientific literature to describe nitrogen-containing bases that have been found in animals or fungi but not (or not yet) in plants, then I think those chemicals are alkaloids. This usage might be considered mildly controversial by some, which is worth noting, but I don't think we're justified in implying it's not "strictly" correct.

from Wiktionary:alkaloid:

Any of many organic heterocyclic bases, that occur in nature and often have medicinal properties.

The "heterocyclic" qualifier is interesting. Phenethylamine alkaloids like mescaline have only carbons in their rings, and I'd guess there are many other example non-heterocyclic alkaloids. Are there alkaloids with no rings at all? It seems like most have some type of ring structure. --Eloil 09:51, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Yes, please try to clarify. I read this article to try and understand what an alkaloid is, but the definition is WAY to loose to be useful. By the current definition, why wouldn't an amino acid be called an alkaloid? ike9898 (talk) 22:36, 21 February 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Mesembrine

Mesembrine is Alkaloid which can be added. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 196.209.60.35 (talk) 17:36, 7 June 2008 (UTC)