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

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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