History
Ergoline alkaloids were first isolated from ergot, a fungus that infects grain and causes the disease ergotism. Ergot also has a long history of medicinal use, which led to attempts to characterize its activity chemically. This began in 1907 with the isolation by G. Barger and F. H. Carrin of ergotoxine, so-named since it appeared to exhibit more of the toxicity of ergot than its therapeutic qualities. With the isolation of ergotamine in 1918 by Arthur Stoll came the first therapeutic use of isolated ergoline alkaloids.
With the determination of the basic chemical structure of the ergot alkaloids in the early 1930s, an era of intensive exploration of synthetic derivatives began.
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