All of the medical uses are important and of considerable usefulness t o mankind, but the chief value lies in their economic significance as means of relief for t h e common cold and asthma. There is much research at present by the chemists and pharmacologists on these agents, espe cially toward their synthesis and improve ment. The program a t present outlined by Maurice L. Moore, Secretary of t h e Division of Medical Chemistry, is as follows : 1.
HARRY GOLD, Cornell Medical School. New York, N. Y. The Clinical Im portance and Uses of the Sympatho mimetic Agents.
2.
WALTER
3.
4.
5.
H.
HARTUNG,
University
of
Maryland, Baltimore, Md. The Chem istry of the Phenylethylamine Deriva tives Possessing Sympathomimetic Ac tivity. C. R. SCHOLZ, Ciba Pharmaceutical Products, Inc., Summit, N . J. The Chemistry of the Imidazole Derivatives Possessing Sympathomimetic Activity. M. L. TAINTER, Winthrop Chemical Co., Rensselaer, N. Y. The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Present Sympatho mimetic Agents and Some Unsolved Problems. Informal Discussion.
Much of the session will be devoted to discussion of the problems common to all the manufacturers. Dr. Scholz's paper will deal with work he is now doing o n synthetic imidazole and imadazoline derivatives, all of which was founded on the observation that quite a number of natural products from either plants or animals, which contained the imidazole ring showed definite phar macological activity. Examples of this are the alkaloids pilocarpin, pilosin or histidine, and histamine. Dr. Scholz has found a number of synthetics that have definite influence on the circulatory system, some causing marked rises in blood pressure, even a t high dilutions. Upon local appli cation these substances cause a constric tion of the peripheral vessels for unusually prolonged periods of time, and these
properties, says Dr. Scholz, offer unique advantages as vasoconstrictors. H e will offer a tentative correlation of t h e phar macological activity and the chemical constitution of the imidazoline series under discussion. Dr. Hartung's paper will help in un raveling some of the mysteries attached to medical chemistry. His study will be based o n £-phenylethylamine, a rare com pound inasmuch as its chemical structure may be radically altered without drasti cally altering or losing its pharmacological effects. Dr. Hartung states that various substituents can be introduced into the phenyl nucleus, such as a lengthening of a side chain, conversion into an alkanolamine or introduction of stereoisomerism, and a series of compounds are obtained which show distinct relationships be tween physiological activity and chemi cal structure. A complete study of the physical and chemical properties may be expected t o give the chemist a better ap preciation and understanding of the phenomena associated with "protoplasmic reaction". Once this is achieved, Dr. Hartung feels, it may be applied t o other groups also and should go a long way toward "freeing the medicinal chemist from empiricism and the rule of the socalled hunch". The property of being able t o produce pharmacological changes by altering chemical structure is not common. It is a characteristic of compounds containing the 0-phenylethylamine skeleton, a n d there are many such compounds used i n medi cine—epinine, propadrine, benzedrine, t y rosine, etc. Choline, according t o Dr. Hartung, needs only a small change in structure t o destroy entirely i t s char acteristic properties. Sulfanilamide, like wise, of which thousands of homologs, analogs, and derivatives have been pre pared, shows the desired biological activ ity within very narrow structural limita tions.
Frontiers in Biochemistry Theme of Divisional Symposium The Division of Biological Chemistry will hold a Symposium on the Frontiers of Bio chemistry at the 108th annual meeting of the ACS to be held in New York City under the sponsorship of the North Jersey Section, September 11 to 15. According to Erwin Brand, secretary of the division, 29 invited papers are planned, each author being allotted about 25 minutes. The program is expected to stretch over four afternoon and one morn ing sessions. The general program of the division will be held at the morning meetings of the group. Members of the division will contribute 23 of the invited papers. The meeting area will furnish 13 of the authors. More details will be given in the July 10 CHEMICAL AND ENGINEERING N E W S .
1018
Universities represented on the symposium are: Columbia, Cornell, Harvard, Min nesota, Missouri, Pittsburgh, Rutgers, Stan ford, Texas, Wisconsin, and Yale. Scien tists from the following institutions will be heard: Rockefeller Institute, New York; Lankenau Hospital, Philadelphia; Massa chusetts General Hospital, Boston; and the U. S. Department of Agriculture. Also, there will be a paper from Distillation Prod ucts, Inc., Rochester, Ν. Υ. Following is an alphabetical listing of au thors who have accepted the invitation of t h e division to discuss subjects on the "Fron tiers in Biochemistry" : JAMES B.
ALLISON,
JOHN A.
ANDERSON,
AND ROBERT D . SEELEY, Rutgers Uni
CHEMICAL
versity. "Biological Value" of Proteins in Normal and Protein Depleted Dogs. ROBERT
sity.
BALLANTINE,
Columbia
Univer
Growth Factors for Clostridium.
JESSE L. BOLLMAN AND EUNICE V. FLOCK,
The Mayo Foundation. The Chemistry of Muscle during Shock. ERWIN BRAND, Columbia University. Stoichiometry of Proteins. E. CHARGAFF, Columbia University. Prop erties and Biological Function of Lipopro teins. C. A. ELVEHJEM, J. M, BRIGGS, JR., T. D. LUCKEY, AND Ε. Β. HART, University of
Wisconsin. B-ll.
Studies on Vitamin B-10 and
J. D. FERRY, J. T. EDSALL, P . R. MORRISON, Ε. Α. BERING, JR., AND S. H. ARMSTRONG,
JR., Harvard University. Physicochemistry Characteristics of Fibrinogen and Certain Products Derived from It. L. J. FILER, JR., S. S. SIDHU,
Β. F. DAU-
BERT, AND Η. Ε. LONGENECKER, Univer sity of Pittsburgh. X-Ray Diffraction In vestigations on Synthetic Glycerides. D. E. GREEN, S. RATNER, V. NOCITO. P. K. STUMPF, AND M. BLANCHARD, Columbia
University.
/-Amino Acid Oxidases.
PHILIP L. HARRIS AND K. HICKMAN, Distil
lation Products, Inc. Clinical and Chemi cal Studies of the Ε Vitamins. N. H. HOROWITZ AND ADRIAN M. SRB, Stan
ford University. Neurosporo.
Arginine Metabolism in
ROLLIN D . HOTCHKISS, Rockefeller Insti
tute, New York. The Mode of Action of Gramicidin in Bacteria. ELVIN
A. KABAT,
Columbia
University.
Immunochemistry in the Study of Bac terial Proteins and Animal Viruses. F. LIPMANN, Massachusetts General Hospi tal, Boston. Enzymatic Synthesis and Metabolism of Acetyl Phosphate. KARL MEYER AND ELEANOR CHAFFEE, Co
lumbia University. Biologically Active Derivatives of Penicillin. LEONORE
MICHAELIS
AND F.
GBANNICK,
Rockefeller Institute, New York. Ferritin and Its Significance for Iron Metabolism. L.
R. RICHARDSON, YAO CHIANG, A. G. HOGAN, AND H. L. KEMPSTER, University
of Missouri. Vitamin B e Requirements of the Turkey Poult. F. J. W. ROUGHTON, Columbia University. Carbon Monoxide. FRANCIS J. RYAN AND ERWIN
BRAND, Co
lumbia University. The Use of Neurospora Mutants for the Determination of Amino Acids. HENRY C. SHERMAN, United States Depart ment of Agriculture. Nutritional Prin ciples in Wartime Food Problems. S. SlMMONDS, M. COHN, J. P . CHANDLER, AND V. DU VIGNEAUD, Cornell University. Further Exploration of Transmethylation by Following the Deuterio Methyl Group. Ε. Ε . SNELL, University of Texas. Nutri tional Requirements of Lactobacilli and Their Use for Bioassay of Amino Acids. L. E . STRONG, J. L. ONCLEY, D . J. MULFORD, W. L. HUGHES, JR., AND E. J. COHN, Har
vard University. Physicochemical Charac teristics of Albumins and Globulins of Hu man Plasma. E.
L. TATUM AND D . BONNER,
University. Neurospora. SIDNEY
Stanford
Tryptophane Metabolism in AND GRACE
MEDES,
Lankenau Hospital, Philadelphia. anism of Fatty Acid Oxidation.
WEINHOUSE
Mech
ABRAHAM WHITE AND T. F.
DOUGHERTY,
Yale University. Influence of Hormones on Serum Proteins. ROGER J. WILLIAMS, University of Texas.
Studies on the Problem of the Significance of Folic Acid. T. F. ZUCKER, LOIS ZUCKER, and W. M.
SPERRY, Columbia University. Relative Growth. The Distribution of Nitrogen, Fat, and Water during the Life Cycle.
AND
ENGINEERING
NEWS
Buildings of the Merck Research Laboratories at Rahway, N. J.
Above. Laboratories of Ciba Pharmaceutical Products, Inc., Summit, N . J. Right Analytical Laboratory, Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N . J .
Control chemists at work in the Merck Analytical Laboratory, Rahway, N . J. V O L U M E
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NO.
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1944
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