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Chemistry Forums for Students => Organic Chemistry Forum => Topic started by: Zami87 on April 22, 2005, 01:04:04 PM

Title: Isolation of theobromine from chocolate
Post by: Zami87 on April 22, 2005, 01:04:04 PM
Hi there!I read a story about a dog who died from eating too much chocolate. I know that chocolate is toxic but I thought maybe I could somehow isolate theobromine from different kinds of chocolate and deduce which kind is the most toxic.
But there is a problem:nobody knows how to isolate theobromine from chocolate(even some University professors!).Please help(books, sites ,PROTOCOLS).Thanks!
ps I already tried PubMed but only abstracts available.Jana
Title: Re:Isolation of theobromine from chocolate
Post by: ja07 on April 22, 2005, 09:23:07 PM
Hi Zami87

Theobromine is an alkoloid to my knowledge. There are many alkoloid extraction procedures for extracting alkoloids from organic (plant) matter. I wonder how applicable this would be to your chocolate??  ???

I did a very, very breif google search:
:Edited:

Im sure if you looked up some text books they would have this information.

Hope that helps  :)


----

Please don't post links to drug websites.
Title: Re:Isolation of theobromine from chocolate
Post by: Zami87 on April 23, 2005, 02:35:47 PM
Hi Zami87

Theobromine is an alkoloid to my knowledge. There are many alkoloid extraction procedures for extracting alkoloids from organic (plant) matter. I wonder how applicable this would be to your chocolate??  ???

I did a very, very breif google search:
:Edited:

Im sure if you looked up some text books they would have this information.

Hope that helps  :)

Thanks.It's good for beginning.Our "local textbooks" are not so detailed.Can you get me titles of  some good books?
Title: Re:Isolation of theobromine from chocolate
Post by: ja07 on April 24, 2005, 07:06:32 AM
Im sure if you looked up some text books they would have this information.

Okay, I looked up my basic 1st year/2nd year uni text books.... nothing on alkaloid extraction procedures  :(

I searched alkaloids on my Uni's catalogue and came up with "Alkaloid chemistry" by Manfred Hesse and "Alkaloids : biochemistry, ecology, and medicinal applications" by Margaret F. Roberts and Michael Wink

Might be irrelavent :-\ or may contain some useful information  :o

Good luck
Title: Re:Isolation of theobromine from chocolate
Post by: Zami87 on April 24, 2005, 08:23:55 AM

I searched alkaloids on my Uni's catalogue and came up with "Alkaloid chemistry" by Manfred Hesse and "Alkaloids : biochemistry, ecology, and medicinal applications" by Margaret F. Roberts and Michael Wink

Good luck
OK Thanks I'll try to find those books. :D
Title: Re:Isolation of theobromine from chocolate
Post by: hmx9123 on May 06, 2005, 06:09:26 AM
Extraction process: Schwyzer, Die Fabrikation Pharmazeutischer und Chemisch-Technischer Produkte (Berlin, 1931).

Hope you can read German.

Theobromine is great stuff.  Since you know little about it, first do a google search.  Then do a google search for caffiene.  You can also look these up on www.chemfinder.com  Make sure that you note the similarities--they occur together naturally in at least some abundance and therefore you will have a difficult time separating the two.  Aside from that, you should look in the Merck Index, available at your local library.  There is also a book called 'The Chemistry of Chocolate' put out not too long ago.

Theobromine
3,7-dihydro-3,7-dimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione.  Also 3,7-dimethylxanthine.
C7H8N4O2
MW 180.17
The principal alkaloid of the cacao bean wihich contains 1.5-3% of the vase.  Also present in cola nuts and in tea.  Usually extracted from the hull of cacao beans which contain 0.7-1.2%.

Synthesis is from 1898.

mp 357 deg C, subl. 290-295 deg C.
Title: Re:Isolation of theobromine from chocolate
Post by: underdosed on May 10, 2005, 04:59:41 PM
Ok, there's no standard way to do this. I'd go with extracting some ground chocolate into ether and then running a chromotography column (on a small scale) combine the like fractions and use NMR to see what you've got in what fraction. Given the multitude of compounds in chocolate i think a column is the only real way.
Title: Re:Isolation of theobromine from chocolate
Post by: Zami87 on May 24, 2005, 09:41:40 AM
Thanks a lot people!  I have got something valuable!   :)
GREAT SITE hmx9123! 8)


 
Title: Re:Isolation of theobromine from chocolate
Post by: constant thinker on May 25, 2005, 04:25:04 PM
Theobromine is a stimulant? I never knew that. I thought it just existed with caffeine.