cinchonine

[ sing-kuh-neen, -nin, sin- ]

noun

, Pharmacology.

1. a colorless, crystalline, slightly water-soluble alkaloid, C 19 H 22 N 2 O, a stereoisomer of cinchonidine, obtained from the bark of various species of cinchona and used chiefly as a quinine substitute.

cinchonine

/ ˈsɪŋkəˌniːn /

noun

1. an insoluble crystalline alkaloid isolated from cinchona bark, used to treat malaria. Formula: C 19 H 22 N 2 O

Word History and Origins

Origin of cinchonine¹

First recorded in 1815–25; cinchon(a) + -ine ²

Example Sentences

A fourth alkaloid, cinchonidine, is isomeric with cinchonine, which yields it when boiled with amyl alcoholic potash, but is laevo-rotatory, slightly soluble in ether, and faintly fluorescent.

From Project Gutenberg

Their great value depends upon the presence of certain alkaloid substances called quinine, cinchonine, and quinidine, which exist in the bark in combination with tannic and other acids.

From Project Gutenberg

The true cinchona barks, containing quinine, quinidine, and cinchonine, are distinguished from the false by their splintery-fibrous texture, the latter being pre-eminently corky.

From Project Gutenberg

Yellow bark, which is not official, yields 3% of quinine, and pale bark about 10% of total alkaloids, of which hardly any is quinine, cinchonine and quinidine being its chief constituents.

From Project Gutenberg

Quinidine is almost as powerful an antidote to malaria as quinine; cinchonidine has about two-thirds the power of quinine, and cinchonine less than one-half.

From Project Gutenberg