Quinine

Qunine is a white crystalline alkaloid which is derived from the bark of a Cinchona tree. It is referred to by many different names such as Quina, Quinquina, Quinine Bark, Peruvian Bark and Jesuit's Bark to just name a few of them. Sometimes it is also known by its chemical name of Quinine sulphate or Quinine bisulphate. Quinine has 4 chiral centres and therefore 16 stereoisomers. The structure of quinine is shown below:

Quinine was first isolated from the bark of a cinchona tree in 1820 by French chemists P. J. Pelletier and J. B. Caventou. But quinine bark had bee used for many hundreds of years before that, to treat symptoms of malaria.

Quinine is almost insoluble in water, but it dissolves readily in alcohol and other organic solvents. Hence why the British colonials in India are known to have dissolved quinine in a small amount of gin before drinking it.