GB314498A - - Google Patents

Abstract

314,498. Palmeri, C. June 28, 1928, [Convention date]. Alkaloids.-In a continuous process for extracting alkaloids, in the form of their salts, from plant materials which contain them, such materials are macerated in a vessel 1 in a concentrated solution of a salt, such as sodium or calcium chloride, which is a strong electrolyte, preferably made alkaline 'by the addition of a base such as calcium, sodium, potassium, or ammonium hydroxide. In this treatment the alkaloids are transferred to the solution, organic acids, chiefly pectic acid, and colloidal substances being precipitated. The extract is then forced by means of a pump 4 to the top of a tower 2, which contains, above the level a a, an organic solvent, such as a high-boiling petroleum oil which is lighter than water and immiscible with the solution. As the solution descends through the solvent, suitable means being employed to ensure a large contact surface between the two liquids, the alkaloids are partly transferred to the latter. The cock 6 controlling the pipe 5 being normally open, the spent solution at the base of the tower, below a a, is returned to the vessel 1 by the pressure of the liquid column above it. The solvent saturated with alkaloids is conveyed by means of a pump 7 to the base of a tower 3 containing a solution of a suitable acid, such as sulphuric, formic, or oxalic acid, the alkaloid salts of which are thus formed as the solvent ascends through it, the regenerated solvent being returned to the tower 2 through the tube 8.