Identification of Octopamine as l-p-Hydroxyphenylethanolamine

Abstract

So far back as 1940¹ and again in 1948 ², it had been observed that extracts of posterior salivary glands of Octopus vulgaris possessed intense adrenaline-like actions on blood-pressure and isolated organs, when irradiated with ultra-violet light in the presence of air. The parent substance of the adrenaline-like principle was named ‘octopamine’, while the principle itself was called ‘hydroxyoctopamine’.