α-细辛醚是石菖蒲挥发油中的一种化学成分,国外文献虽早有报道,但其生理活性报道较少。1977年,我们在寻找治疗慢性支气管炎药物的筛选工作中,发现石菖蒲挥发油和醇提物对豚鼠离体气管平滑肌有很强的松弛作用,并分别作成片剂或注射剂试用于临床治疗慢性支气管炎和肺心病,均取得了较好的疗效。以后从挥发油中分离出有效成分α-细辛醚用于临床,同样取得了上述疗效,而且使用剂量较小,几乎无副作用。近几年来,对α-细辛醚的用途又有新的发展,如南京军区总医院,用α-细辛醚为原料,进行光聚合反应,得到具有降脂活性的二聚细辛醚。因此,如何从多种途径获得α-细辛醚,以满足动物试验和临床用药需要是一个值得研究的课题。鉴于α-细辛醚在石菖蒲挥发油中含量很低(8%左右),且不易得到结晶,而β-细辛醚含量却高达85%以上。据文献报道,由于它们是互为异构体,在特定条件下可以将β-细 Alpha-asarone is a chemical component in the volatile oil of Asparagi. Although it has been reported in foreign literature, its physiological activity is rarely reported. In 1977, when we were looking for a drug for the treatment of chronic bronchitis, we found that the volatile oil and alcohol extract of Acorus tatarinowii had a strong relaxing effect on isolated trachea smooth muscle of guinea pigs and were used as a tablet or injection for clinical treatment of chronic bronchioles. Both inflammation and pulmonary heart disease have achieved good results. After the active ingredient α-asarone was separated from the volatile oil for clinical use, the above-mentioned effects were also obtained, and the dose was small, with few side effects. In recent years, there have been new developments in the use of α-asarone, such as the Nanjing Military Region General Hospital, which uses α-asarone as a raw material for photopolymerization to obtain a dimeric ascotactone with a lipid-lowering activity. Therefore, how to obtain α-asarone from various ways to meet the needs of animal experiments and clinical medications is a subject worthy of study. Since α-asarone has a very low content (about 8%) in the volatile oil of Asparagi, and it is not easy to obtain crystallization, the content of β-asarone is more than 85%. According to reports in the literature, since they are isomers, β-fine can be made under certain conditions.