Use of Ion Exchange in Recovery and Partial Purification of Morphine from Aqueous Extracts of Poppy Capsules

A cation-exchange resin has been used successfully to recover morphine from aqueous extracts of poppy capsules. With 65 ml. of extract containing 65 mg. of morphine applied per gram of resin, approximately 94 per cent of the morphine was recovered when the resin was in the sodium form and 89 per cent when in the ammonium form. The resin showed no loss of capacity after 21 cycles. The crude solid product from the column eluate contained about 54 per cent morphine. By passing the eluate from the ammonium resin through an anion exchange resin, a solid product containing 85 per cent morphine was obtained.