Mauve Factor re-identified as 2,4-Dimethyl-3-ethylpyrrole and its Sedative Effect on the CNS

Abstract

Irvine¹ and Hoffer and Mahon² reported on the occurrence of a compound giving a characteristic mauve colour with Ehrlich's reagent on paper. The significance of this metabolite is that it occurs with greater frequency in psychotic individuals. This finding has been confirmed by several investigators^3–5. Ellman et al.⁶, however, reported that a metabolite apparently identical to the one in question may be derived from phenothiazines and occurs in the urine of patients on phenothiazine therapy. Recently, Irvine⁷ has identified the mauve factor as 2,4-dimethyl-3-ethylpyrrole on the basis of chromatographic and mass spectral studies. This report is concerned with the identity of the mauve factor, a critique of various isolation procedures used by different investigators and its pharmacological action on the central nervous system (CNS). The possible CNS effect is important because several laboratories have postulated a metabolic product in the schizophrenic which may be stimulant and hallucinogenic.