Comparison of four documents describing adrenaline purification, and the work of three important scientists, Keizo Uenaka, Nagai Nagayoshi and Jokichi Takamine

• Published in: Journal of anesthesia history 2020-06, Vol.6 (2), p.42-48
• Main Authors: Mieda, Rie, Aso, Chizu, Hiroki, Tadanao, Kanamoto, Masafumi, Suto, Takashi, Tobe, Masaru, Saito, Shigeru
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adrenaline; Ephedrine; History of medicine and histology; Jokichi Takamine; Nagayoshi; Nagayoshi Nagai; Takamine; Uenaka
• ISSN: 2352-4529; 2352-4537
• DOI: 10.1016/j.janh.2020.04.001

•Keizo Uenaka was the scientist who practically isolated adrenaline as crystal.•Adrenalin purification methods released in 1901 was based on Uenaka's hand-written document, “On adrenalin, Memorandum, July to December, 1900”.•Nagayoshi Nagai, Jokichi Takamine and Keizo Uenaka had crucial roles in chemical isolation of ephedrine and adrenaline. The name of Keizo Uenaka has not been documented in textbooks. However, Uenaka was the scientist who worked on ephedrine and played a practical role in the purification and crystallization of adrenaline. His handwritten memorandum, “On Adrenaline, Memorandum, July to December, 1900” is now stored in a Buddhist temple, Kyougyou-ji in Nashio, Japan. In the present report, we compared Uenaka's original description and Jokichi Takamine's published scientific reports, and examined how each statement in four documents are related to each other in terms of successful adrenaline crystallization. Uenaka's memorandum contained precise procedures and experimental tips for successful purification. The experimental steps were considered to transcribed in the first published document in The American Journal of Pharmacy by Takamine in 1901, and summarized in another document in ``Journal of Physiology'' in 1901. A Japanese version was published in ``Yakugakuzasshi'' in 1903 by translating the English paper in the American Journal of Pharmacy published in 1901. Reading Uenaka's memorandum, we realized that he tirelessly and diligently undertook routine experiments that to some of us might seem boring and laborious. Although the name of Uenaka is not globally well known, he was the main scientist who did the actual work of purifying adrenaline.