[Psychiatry and psychiatric care. On the relationship of science and society around 1900]. / Psychiatrie und Fürsorge. Zum Verhältnis von Wissenschaft und Gesellschaft um 1900.

Psychiatrists undertaking historical research, poets praising advances in the natural sciences, sociologists speaking the language of medicine and biology: these are only some examples of how various approaches started to flow together around 1900. This convergence was attributable on the one hand to a fear of social disintegration and the consequences of modernization, and on the other hand to a widespread belief in scientific progress. The nineteenth century concept of individual integrity and a right to cultural education was now replaced by collective approaches emphasizing the role of society as a whole (the "masses") and heredity. During the next few decades eugenic approaches to the treatment of "asocial elements" and minorities predominated. Rather than deriving, as claimed, from scientific principles, these approaches were often based on cultural argumentation. The trend was more toward a culturalization of the scientific and medical discourse than toward a biologization of thinking with regard to society. A good many areas in this connection have hardly been researched yet. Interdisciplinary studies would be required to elucidate the relationships between medically defined "health" and socially defined "normality", the intertwinement of disciplines, and the implementation of scientific concepts into social and political models.

Synthesis and pharmacology of metabolically stable tert-butyl ethers of morphine and levorphanol.

3-O-tert-Butylmorphine (5) was prepared from 6-O-acetylmorphine (3) via alkylation with N,N-dimethylformamide di-tert-butyl acetal, followed by hydrolytic removal of the 3-(dimethylamino)-2-propenoate group. The same process was used to prepare the tert-butyl ether of levorphanol (6), (-)-3-tert-butoxy-N-methylmorphinan (8). Both 5 and 8 exhibited in vitro affinity for the opiate receptor comparable to codeine and had analgesic properties in the writhing test. Only 5 exhibited activity in the tail-flick procedure and neither compound showed significant antitussive activity.

Quinazolines and 1,4-benzodiazepines. 90. Structure-activity relationship between substituted 2-amino-N-(2-benzoyl-4-chlorophenyl)acetamides and 1,4-benzodiazepinones.

The syntheses of 2-amino-N-(2-benzoyl)-4-chlorophenyl)acetamides are reported. The pharmacological properties of these compounds were compared with data obtained from the corresponding cyclized products [5-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones]. Evidence is presented which suggests that the central nervous system activity observed for 1,4-benzodiazepines is inherent only in the closed seven-membered ring and is not due to the ring-opened form.

Fluorescamine: a reagent for assay of amino acids, peptides, proteins, and primary amines in the picomole range.

Fluorescamine is a new reagent for the detection of primary amines in the picomole range. Its reaction with amines is almost instantaneous at room temperature in aqueous media. The products are highly fluorescent, whereas the reagent and its degradation products are nonfluorescent. Applications are discussed.