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|Section2= |Section3= }} Strychnine (; also or ) is a highly toxic, colorless, bitter crystalline alkaloid used as a pesticide, particularly for killing small vertebrates such as birds and rodents. Strychnine, when inhaled, swallowed or absorbed through eyes or mouth, causes a poisoning which results in muscular convulsions and eventually death through asphyxia.〔 While it has no known medicinal effects, in the past the convulsant effect was believed to be beneficial in small doses. The most common source is from the seeds of the ''Strychnos nux-vomica'' tree. ==History== Strychnine was the first alkaloid to be identified in plants of the genus ''Strychnos'', family Loganiaceae. ''Strychnos'', named by Carl Linnaeus in 1753, is a genus of trees and climbing shrubs of the gentian order. The genus contains 196 various species and is distributed throughout the warm regions of Asia (58 species), America (64 species), and Africa (75 species). The seeds and bark of many plants in this genus contain the powerful poison strychnine. The toxic and medicinal effects of ''Strychnos nux-vomica'' have been well known from the times of ancient India, although the chemical compound itself was not identified and characterized until the 19th century. The inhabitants of these countries had historical knowledge of the species ''Strychnos nux-vomica'' and Saint-Ignatius' bean (''Strychnos ignatii''). ''Strychnos nux-vomica'' is a tree native to the tropical forests on the Malabar Coast in Southern India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia, which attains a height of about 12 m. The tree has a crooked, short, thick trunk and the wood is close grained and very durable. The fruit has an orange color and is about the size of a large apple with a hard rind and contains five seeds, which are covered with a soft wool-like substance. The ripe seeds look like flattened disks, which are very hard. These seeds are the chief commercial source of strychnine and were first imported to and marketed in Europe as a poison to kill rodents and small predators. ''Strychnos ignatii'' is a woody climbing shrub of the Philippines. The fruit of the plant, known as Saint Ignatius' bean, contains as many as 25 seeds embedded in the pulp. The seeds contain more strychnine than other commercial alkaloids. The properties of ''S. nux-vomica'' and ''S. ignatii'' are substantially those of the alkaloid strychnine. Strychnine was first discovered by French chemists Joseph Bienaimé Caventou and Pierre-Joseph Pelletier in 1818 in the Saint-Ignatius' bean.〔Pelletier and Caventou (1818) ("Note sur un nouvel alkalai" ) (Note on a new alkali), ''Annales de Chimie et de Physique'', vol. 8, pages 323-324. See also: Pelletier and Caventou (1819) ("Mémoire sur un nouvel alcali vegetal (la strychnine) trouvé dans la feve de Saint-Ignace, la noix vomique, etc." ) (Memoir on a new vegetable alkali (strychnine) found in the St. Ignatius bean, the nux-vomica, etc), ''Annales de Chimie et de Physique'', vol. 10, pages 142 - 176.〕 In some Strychnos plants a 9,10-dimethoxy derivative of strychnine, the alkaloid brucine, is also present. Brucine is not as poisonous as strychnine. Historic records indicate that preparations containing strychnine (presumably) had been used to kill dogs, cats, and birds in Europe as far back as 1640. The structure of strychnine was first determined in 1946 by Sir Robert Robinson and in 1954 this alkaloid was synthesized in a laboratory by Robert B. Woodward. This is one of the most famous syntheses in the history of organic chemistry. Both chemists won the Nobel prize (Robinson in 1947 and Woodward in 1965).〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「strychnine」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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