A synthetic precursor to atropine, synthesised in 1917 by Robert Robinson. Tropinone is an alkaloid, i.e. naturally appearing chemical compound containing basic nitrogen atoms. Tropinone and the alkaloids cocaine and atropine all share the same tropane core structure. More Details about Tropinone can be found at Wikipedia. The image in the upper left corner (provided by Boehringer Ingelheim) shows the chemical structure of Tropinone. Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the world’s leading suppliers of phytochemicals.
In 1947 Robert Robinson won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry “for his investigations on plant products of biological importance, especially the alkaloids”.