B. IODINE PRODUCTS
A. H. Clark, Ph.G., B.S.
“B. Iodine” products are marketed by the B. Iodine Chemical Company, Cincinnati, Ohio; John Bohlander, A.M., M.D., is said to be the discoverer. They consist of “B. Iodine,” “B. Oleum Iodine,” and “B. Aqua Iodine.” B. Iodine and B. Oleum Iodine were submitted to the Council.
In a circular submitted by the B. Iodine Chemical Company, B. Iodine is said to be “Nitrogen Hydrate of Iodin.” It is claimed that “coming in contact with water, H2O, a chemical change takes place forming Hydro Oxid of Iodin, the Nitrogen of the Nitrogen Hydrate of Iodin escaping, the balance taking up one of oxygen of the water. Its companion, the H2, escaping at the same time with the Nitrogen then combining with the remainder of the water to form the solution of Hydrogen Oxid of Iodin; so you can readily see that you really have a pure water of Iodin, nothing but the H, the O and the I.”—(From the Journal A. M. A., Feb. 1, 1919.)
B. IODINE
According to the circular, B. Iodine is soluble in alcohol, chloroform, and ether. Also it:
“Has odor, taste, melting and boiling point, same as regular Iodin, has a great affinity for water and will respond to all the tests of Iodin. Appears in a Bluish Black Granulated mass or Powder. When heated in vaporating dish will throw off large purple volumes of Iodin leaving a slight white crystalline precipitate, which on continuous heating will entirely disappear. With careful manipulation you can get prismatic needle point like crystals, looking like spores of glass, these dissolving in water will yield pure Iodin coloring the water Iodin.
“Pharmacologic, Therapeutical and Physiological Action: Same as Iodin, being of a colloidal nature has the advantage of being more readily absorbed and taken up by all cellular structure, thus getting a perfect cellular medication of Iodin.”
A sample of B. Iodine, marked “Nitrogen Hydrate of Iodin” was submitted by the manufacturers and this sample was examined.
B. Iodine was found to be a granular powder, almost black with a purple cast. It has an odor of iodin and dissolves in water readily. It is also quite soluble in alcohol, but not entirely soluble in chloroform and ether. Ether quickly dissolves iodin from B. Iodine, leaving a residue of a white granular substance. Chloroform acts the same as ether except that the iodin is dissolved out with some difficulty. On heating B. Iodine, vapors of iodin escape. If the heating is done on a water bath, a residue of a white granular substance, subsequently identified as ammonium iodid, remains. If heated in a bunsen flame, no residue remains. These tests all indicate that iodin is held in the form of a simple mixture.
Ammonia: B. Iodine when mixed with an excess of sodium hydroxid and warmed, evolves ammonia.
Iodine: 0.1567 gm. B. Iodine dissolved in water required 5.88 c.c. tenth-normal sodium thiosulphate solution indicating 48.28 per cent. iodin. 0.3721 gm. B. Iodine required 14.18 c.c. tenth-normal sodium thiosulphate solution indicating 48.37 per cent. iodin. The average is 48.33 per cent. iodin.
Ammonium Iodide: 0.3453 gm. of the residue after heating B. Iodine on a water bath until all iodin had volatilized was dissolved in water, acidulated with phosphoric acid, and hydrogen dioxid solution added. The liberated iodin was extracted with chloroform and titrated with tenth-normal sodium thiosulphate. 23.78 c.c. were required indicating 0.3447 gm., or 99.83 per cent., ammonium iodid.
A mixture of 5 gm. iodin and 5 gm. ammonium iodid has the properties of B. Iodine mentioned above.
The conclusion is that B. Iodine is essentially a mixture of iodin and ammonium iodid in equal parts, the two substances being finely powdered and intimately mixed.
B. OLEUM IODINE
The following regarding B. Oleum Iodine is quoted from the circular submitted:
“B. OLEUM IODINE: Iodine soluble in mineral oil 5 and 10% for Nasal, Pharyngeal, Laryngeal, Bronchial, Rectal, etc., and all meucoid affections and abnormal conditions of the mucous membrane.”
A sample of B. Oleum Iodine was submitted by the manufacturer and examined. The label on the bottle states that it is 5 per cent. B. Oleum Iodine in mineral oil. This sample has the characteristics of a solution of iodin in liquid petrolatum. It is oily and has the characteristic violet color.
Ammonia: B. Oleum Iodine, since it is presumed to be a solution of B. Iodine, was examined for ammonium compounds. A small quantity was mixed with an equal volume of strong sodium hydroxid solution and heated. No ammonia was evolved. A few crystals of ammonium chlorid were added to a little of B. Oleum Iodine and treated as above. Ammonia was readily detected.
Iodine: 5.255 gm. B. Oleum Iodine was dissolved in chloroform and placed in a separator. A solution of potassium iodid was added and the iodin titrated with a tenth-normal sodium thiosulphate solution. It required 3.5 c.c. indicating 0.85 per cent. iodin.
The conclusion is that B. Oleum Iodine is a simple solution of iodin in liquid petrolatum to the extent of 0.85 per cent. and not 5 per cent. as claimed. Furthermore, it is not a solution of B. Iodine since no ammonium compound is present.
The preceding report was sent to the B. Iodine Chemical Company. The following reply was received:
Your letter of the 21st inst., received and contents noted and cannot quite agree with your report.
Reasons why: NH4I, a Nitro Hydrate Iodide; NH4I2, a Nitro Hydrate Iodate; and NH4I2I2, Per Iodide, a molecular compound, which I claim, they all being of a NH group, so what can be the objection of Nitrogen Hydrate of Iodine? Of course when your chemist, with the aid of heat, drove off all the Iodine, he naturally brought it back to a NH4I. There’s where he gets the A.M.. I claim a molecular compound.
The Oil of Iodine I sent you by mistake was a 1 per cent. and not a 5 per cent. as marked. I claim it is made from the resublimed Iodine in mineral oil and not the B. Iodine. I claim a 5 per cent. has heretofore never been accomplished, so I therefore can claim something new.
Tr. Iodine contains Alcohol and Potash as a base, the alcohol a dehydrater and Potash an escharotic, and all other soluble Iodines like the tincture have a metallic base. Mine has not. My iodine is compatible almost with all the salts, alkaloids, tannates, and even the metals. You can’t say that for the tincture or the others. Now why should mine not be superior to others?
Preparations as yet are not on the market and a few pamphlets were printed to meet with the requirements of your rulings and approval and shall be corrected if we only can agree on a proper name as you may suggest.
Yours very truly,
The B. Iodine Chemical Co.
By John Bohlander, A.M, M.D.
P.S. We are sending you under separate cover another sample of the Oil of Iodine which is a 5 per cent. solution, and allowing for deterioration will test at least four per cent.
The referee in charge of the preparations submitted the above letter to the Council with the following comments:
The principal statements in the letter are essentially erroneous or misleading: Mixtures or double salts of ammonium iodid and iodin were not discovered by Dr. Bohlander, and are nothing new. Watery solutions of iodin by means of an iodid have long been known and used in the form of Lugol’s solution.
There is no evidence that ammonium iodid is less irritating than potassium iodid. On the contrary, ammonium salts are generally more irritating than the corresponding potassium salts. B. Iodine is not compatible with alkaloids, but behaves essentially like Lugol’s solution. The A. M. A. Chemical Laboratory reports that the new sample of B. Oleum Iodine contains only 1.2 per cent. of free iodin, instead of the claimed amount. It is therefore somewhat weaker than the iodin petrolatum prepared by the A. M. A. Chemical Laboratory (Reports Council Pharm. and Chem., 1917, p. 88).
However good Dr. Bohlander’s intentions may be, the statements that he makes about his products are misleading or erroneous, and the products are ineligible for N. N. R.—(From Reports of Council on Pharmacy and Chemistry, 1918, p. 44.)