Cinchonin

/sɪŋˈkoʊnɪn/ noun

Definition

An older or alternative spelling/form of cinchonine, a major alkaloid compound found in cinchona bark with medicinal properties.

Etymology

From cinchona + -in (common alkaloid suffix, variant of -ine), representing an earlier naming convention in 19th-century chemistry. Both 'cinchonin' and 'cinchonine' refer to the same compound with different nomenclature styles.

Kelly Says

Scientific nomenclature wasn't standardized in the early 1800s, so chemists sometimes disagreed on whether to write 'cinchonin' or 'cinchonine'—kind of like how people still write 'ketchup' and 'catsup' interchangeably.

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