Arecoline is an alkaloid

Alkaloid

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms. This group also includes some related compounds with neutral and even weakly acidic properties. Also some synthetic compounds of similar structure are attributed to alkaloids...

 natural product found in the areca nut, the fruit of the areca palm (Areca catechu

Areca catechu

Areca catechu is the areca palm or areca nut palm, , a species of palm which grows in much of the tropical Pacific, Asia, and parts of east Africa. The palm is believed to have originated in either Malaysia or the Philippines...

). It is an odourless oily liquid volatile in steam, miscible with most organic solvents and water, but extractable from the latter by ether in presence of dissolved salts. The salts are crystalline, but usually deliquescent; the hydrobromide, B•HBr, forms slender prisms, mp. 177-9 °C from hot alcohol

Ethanol

Ethanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...

; the aurichloride, B•HAuCl₄, is an oil, but the platinichloride, B₂•H₂PtCl₆, mp.