RALPH E. OESPER University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati,Ohio
ARTHIIR PTOLI.,internntionnIIy kno\vn orgnnic chemist, derivat.ives of the natural ergot alknloirls, the less toxic ~vnsborn nt Srhinn~nrh(.\i~rpnul Switmrlnnd on Jnnu- dihydro alkaloids offrr grent pr0mi.w; they exert pownry R, 1RRi. He r n t m d thr l ~ ~ i d g r ~ ~ o ~Tech~ i s c h cerful action on the nutmomie nrrvous system. . The nischr Ho~~hsc.hule nt Z11rir41in 1906. I k r n l ~ f o r his r firld of application of ergot tlerivntivr~,originnlly limtrnining \vas romplete, \\'illstiit,ter nrceptrcl y011ngShall i t 4 to ohtrtrics and gynrmlo~v,has now k n eaintc, his rr.srnrch 1nhornt.ory nnd rntrustrd him with in- tended to internal medirine, neurolog?., psychintry, and vmtigntions on rhlorophyll, pnrticwldy the rnzymatic still ot.her brnnrhrs of mcdirine. This rxpnnnion hns bccn mnde possil~lcthrough fi~ndnmcntnlstudies of thc rlenv~~ge with :~hlorophyll:~sr. I:~~rthrrs t ~ ~ d i rdmlt s with the nature of the c4r:rvage proclurts, the chloro- rhemistry of t11r.x highly nctivr mnterinls, nnd espephylliclrs, and their sepnri~tioninto rrrmponcnts n nnd cinlly hy the isdrtion of the pure nlknloirls, and the b. The diplomn of the 1C.T.H. wns ronferred in 1010, pwpnrntion of derivntives, either by hydrogenation or and the dortor:~trin 1911. The next yrnr, Dr. Stoll partial synthrsis. I.:xamplcs of the lntter are mrthyl rrgohsinc nnd lywrgic arid dimethylnmide. aceon~pnnirrlProf. Willstattrr to the ~ ~ r w lerected y The Snncloz I:~h:~r:~torics for the pnst 30 yenrs have Ihiser \\'ilhdrn Institul in Rerlin-Dnhlem, nnd ngnin in 1910 to the ('niversitv of llunich, whrre \Villst.iitter bern nctively interested also in the cnrdionctive glycomls succrrding ,Idolf von Rn~ycr. During the first sides. T h r first socress in this firld WIU the isolntion world war Stoll c o n h u e d his work on rhlorophyll nnd from squill hulbs, of the glycosid~sscillnrcn A nnd srillilater he took up its function in grwn leavrs and its pnrt rosidr; the lnttrr is nlso a potent rat poison. The in photosynthrsis. Two hooks were puhliahcd jointly rreognition by Stall thnt most of the cnrdiac glycosidcs with l\'illstiittrr, namcly "Unternr~rhunpniibcr Chloro- kno\vn prior to 1030 nre products of the enzymntic phyll" (1913) nnd "Untersurhungrn i i l w die Assimiln- drgrnclntion of nnturnl glycosidrs hnving n higher sugar r o ~ ~ t c nId t , to the discovery of n wrirsof "pnuine" glytion der Iir~hlensnure" (1818). During his Munich period, Stoll also studied peroxi- cosi(lcs, i. c., the glycosidrs a s originnlly present in t,he daw, nnd these resrnrrhrs formed the beginning of plnnt. Thcy were obtained from Digilnlis Znnu/a (lann\Villntiitter's rxtensive investigntion~ on enzymes. tosidrs A, B, nnd C ) , Digilalis plrrpurca (purpuren glyStoll's long assorintion with \Villstntter had ripened rosirles A and R), t,he w d s of Slrophnnlhus kombd (kinto close friendship, and it wts most. fitting thnt he strophnnthosicle), ete. The Snndoz Inborntory hanu should he entrusted with the publirntion (1940) of plnyrrl an nctivc part in elucidnting the constitution of the cwdinc glycosides. As n result of thrse studirs by \\'illstRtter's " A I meinrm ~ Lrkn." In 1917 Dr. Stoll accepted an offer to go into indus- Stoll and his associ:atRs a whole serirs of genuine glycotry, to found and cliwct n new phnrmaceuticnl drpnre sirlw hns now bren introduced i11t.o thernpg. Interest,ing new discoveries have come also from his p e n t in Snndoz, Inc., the well-known n a d e firm. Here for the pnst thirty years he has k n busy with the basic studies of alliin, the specific principle of gnrlic oil, and iden of using the mrt.hods w o r k d out in connection the isolntion of aennosidrs A nnd R, the chief active with chlorophyll and enzymes for the study of other principles of senna lmrrs. The structures of alliin and sensitivr nnturnl ~ubstanrrswhirh might he of mrvlicnl of the lntter glyeosid~shave bern successfully determined. vnlue. In the early 1930's Dr. Stoll turned once again to As early as 1918, he had isolated the pure alkaloid ergotarnine, and thus opened a new and interesting chlorophyll chemistry. He made valuable contribuchapter in ergot chemistry. Six pairs of ergot alknloids tions to the fine structure of the chlorophyll molecule. have now lxen isolnted: ergotnmine-ergotnminine; Lnter, his interest c e n t e d on the state of the chloroergosincrrgosininr; ergocristinr-rrgoeristi~~i~~e; ergo- phyll in the chloroplnsts and, with the aid of his snsocikryptine-ergokrypt,inin~; rrgocornine-ergororninine; ntrs, showed thnt it is present ns a chromoprotein, a ergometrine-ergometrinine (crgohnsine-ergohnsinine). complex similar to thnt of the blood pigment in hemoOnly the second pair \vns discowred outsidr of thr San- globin. In chloroplastin, a name c o i n d by Stoll, the doz lnhorntory; the lnst pnir wn? isolntrd sim~~lt,nne-linkage between the pigment and the protein is much ously by Dudley (England), Jihnrnsch (Chicago), looser than in hemoglobin. The extreme lability of chloroplastin and the size of its particles make t h w Tl~omson(Baltimore), Stoll (Rasle). The laboratories directed hy Stoll have contributed studies, which are still under way, extremely difficult. greatly, especinlly during the pnst 10 yenrs, to the Dr. Stoll's work has been given widespread recogniknowledge of the wnntitutiou of t.he ergot alkaloids, tion. Resides ten honorary doctorates (medicine, which have been shown to hr polypeptides. Among the pharmsry, trrhnical scirnres, rtc.) conferred hy srhools U
JANUARY. 1951
in various countries, nncl honornry mrmbership in learned sorieties, he holds such important,nwnrcls :is the Marrrl nenoist Prim (Switwrlnncl, 1043); Fliirkigrr Gold A1rcl:il of the Swiss Phnrmnnwtirnl Sorit.ty (1943); C'hrvrcul M d n l of fhr S~wirt.vof ('lirminil 111-
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clustry (Frnnrr, 19461; P:ist.~ur1 I ~ I n oi l the French niorhrmirnl Sorirty ( l04RJ. H r is now (1950) Plrsidrnt c ~ f t h C~msril r d r In ('himir Sl~iw-,nncl ht~qt w n nominntril F,str:iorilini~ry I'ri~irswr n t tlir i.nirrrsity of Ncxiro.
