Editing Alkaloid (section)

==Naming==
[[File:Meissner alkalod definition article 1819.png|thumb|160px|The article that introduced the concept of "alkaloid".]]

The name "alkaloids" ({{langx|de|Alkaloide|links=no}}) was introduced in 1819 by German chemist [[:de:Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Meißner|Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Meissner]], and is derived from late Latin root {{lang|la|alkali}} and the Greek-language suffix {{lang|grc|-οειδής}} -('like').<ref group="nb">{{cite journal |last=Meissner |first=W. |year=1819|title=Über Pflanzenalkalien: II. Über ein neues Pflanzenalkali (Alkaloid) |trans-title=About Plant Alkalis: II. About a New Plant Alkali (Alkaloid)|quote=In the penultimate sentence of his article, Meissner wrote: "Überhaupt scheint es mir auch angemessen, die bis jetzt bekannten Pflanzenstoffe nicht mit dem Namen Alkalien, sondern Alkaloide zu belegen, da sie doch in manchen Eigenschaften von den Alkalien sehr abweichen, sie würden daher in dem Abschnitt der Pflanzenchemie vor den Pflanzensäuren ihre Stelle finden." ["In general, it seems appropriate to me to impose on the currently known plant substances not the name 'alkalis' but 'alkaloids', since they differ greatly in some properties from the alkalis; among the chapters of plant chemistry, they would therefore find their place before plant acids (since 'Alkaloid' would precede 'Säure' (acid) but follow 'Alkalien')".] |journal=[[Journal für Chemie und Physik]] |volume=25 |pages=379–381 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433069069056;view=1up;seq=415 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518130019/https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433069069056&view=1up&seq=415 |archive-date=2023-05-18}}</ref> However, the term came into wide use only after the publication of a review article, by Oscar Jacobsen in the chemical dictionary of [[Albert Ladenburg]] in the 1880s.<ref>[[#Hesse|Hesse]], pp. 1–3</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Ladenburg |first=Albert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-9fUAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA213 |title=Handwörterbuch der chemie |date=1882 |publisher=E. Trewendt |pages=213–422 |language=de}}</ref>

There is no unique method for naming alkaloids.<ref name="Hesse 5">[[#Hesse|Hesse]], p. 5</ref> Many individual names are formed by adding the suffix "ine" to the species or genus name.<ref>The suffix "ine" is a Greek feminine patronymic suffix and means "daughter of"; hence, for example, "atropine" means "daughter of Atropa" (belladonna): {{Cite web |url=https://webspace.yale.edu/chem125/125/history99/5Valence/Nomenclature/alkanenames.html |title=Development of Systematic Names for the Simple Alkanes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120316080546/https://webspace.yale.edu/chem125/125/history99/5Valence/Nomenclature/alkanenames.html |archive-date=2012-03-16 |work=yale.edu}}</ref> For example, [[atropine]] is isolated from the plant ''[[Atropa belladonna]]''; [[strychnine]] is obtained from the seed of the [[Strychnine tree]] (''Strychnos nux-vomica'' L.).<ref name=xumuk.ru /> Where several alkaloids are extracted from one plant their names are often distinguished by variations in the suffix: "idine", "anine", "aline", "inine" etc. There are also at least 86 alkaloids whose names contain the root "vin" because they are extracted from ''[[vinca]]'' plants such as ''Vinca rosea'' (''[[Catharanthus roseus]]'');<ref>[[#Hesse|Hesse]], p. 7</ref> these are called [[vinca alkaloid|''vinca'' alkaloids]].<ref name = CurrMedChem-VA>{{cite journal|last1 = van der Heijden|first1 = Robert|last2 = Jacobs|first2 = Denise I.|last3 = Snoeijer|first3 = Wim|last4 = Hallard|first4 = Didier|last5 = Verpoorte|first5 = Robert|year = 2004|title = The ''Catharanthus'' alkaloids: Pharmacognosy and biotechnology|journal = [[Current Medicinal Chemistry]]|volume = 11|issue = 5|pages = 607–628|pmid = 15032608|doi = 10.2174/0929867043455846}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|chapter = Africa's gift to the world|pages = 46–51|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aXGmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|title = Botanical Miracles: Chemistry of Plants That Changed the World|first1 = Raymond|last1 = Cooper|first2 = Jeffrey John|last2 = Deakin|publisher = [[CRC Press]]|year = 2016|isbn = 9781498704304}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last = Raviña|first = Enrique|title = The evolution of drug discovery: From traditional medicines to modern drugs|year = 2011|publisher = [[John Wiley & Sons]]|isbn = 9783527326693|pages = 157–159|chapter = Vinca alkaloids|chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=iDNy0XxGqT8C&pg=PA157}}</ref>