pelletierine

Pel·le·tier \pel-ə-tyā\ , Pierre–Joseph (1788–1842), French chemist. Pelletier was one of the founders of the chemistry of alkaloids. Much of his work was done in collaboration with fellow chemist Joseph-Bienaimé Caventou (1795–1877). The two chemists first isolated chlorophyll in 1817. Pelletier developed an interest in alkaloids, and with Caventou he undertook a search for alkaloids. In 1820 they discovered brucine, cinchonine, colchicine, quinine, strychnine, and veratrine. Their discoveries allowed medicine to move away from the use of crude plant extracts and toward the use of natural and synthetic compounds found or formulated by chemists. In 1877 pelletierine was first isolated and named in Pelletier's honor.