Brucine, an alkaloid closely related to strychnine, is most commonly found in the Strychnos nux-vomica tree. Brucine poisoning is rare, since it is usually ingested with strychnine, and strychnine is more toxic than brucine. In synthetic chemistry, it can be used as a tool for stereospecific chemical syntheses. == History == Brucine was first discovered in 1819 by Pelletier and Caventou in the bark of the Strychnos nux-vomica tree. While its structure was not deduced until much later, it was determined that it was closely related to strychnine in 1884, when the chemist Hanssen converted b...