Introduction: Apomorphine has been used as far back as 2000 BC. In 2000 BC the Mayan’s noticed that the bulb and root of water lilies gave a narcotic feeling, as well as acted as an aphrodisiac and partial hallucinogen.1 Apomorphine belongs to a class of molecules called aporphines which are present in water lilies, more specifically in Nymphaea caerulea and Nymphaea ampla.1 While mild effects were shown in parts of water lilies, scientists wanted to know what exactly caused these effects. The compounds were isolated and tested to determine that apomorphine was the most active ingredient. The concentration of apomorphine was so low in the plants that isolation was impractical so a synthesis was designed to investigate the properties of apomorphine further; leading to apomorphine being used for Parkinson’s disease, erectile dysfunction, and most recently Alzheimer disease.
Synthesis2: The synthesis of apomorphine was historically accomplished by an acid-catalyzed rearrangement of morphine. This method typically had low and varying yields: anywhere from 0.6% to 46% yield. In 2008, a new synthesis was patented that shown yields as high as 55% to 70% yield. This new synthesis, scheme 1, uses phosphoric acid as the catalyst and phosphorus pentoxide as a water scavenger—water is the by-product of the reaction and the phosphorus pentoxide irreversibly binds to the water. The solution would then be heated to 90-100℃ in an inert atmosphere for two hours.
During the 1960s, this active alkaloid was found to help stop withdrawal symptoms associated with both opiates and heroin. Since that time, it has been a vital treatment for all types of addictions.
Chapter six talks about stimulants, like coffee (caffeine containing plants for the most part), cocaine, tobacco, and amphetamines. Many people would not consider coffee a drug, but those are usually the people that cannot go a day without it. Chapter seven talks about depressants, like alcohol, sleeping pills, narcotics, general anesthetics, and antianxiety drugs. Like coffee, many people would not consider alcohol a drug; it may be because it is legal but, when it is abused it has potential to cause more damage than many other drugs to one’s self and outsiders. Depressants depress the nervous system, reducing sensitivity to outside stimulation but in small doses they tend to make people relaxed and happy. The eighth chapter is about psychedelics, which are claimed to have the lowest potential for abuse of any of the psychoactive drugs. This chapter discusses drugs like LSD, morning-glory seeds, mushrooms, ibogaine, DMT, peyote, and ecstasy. People have been using hallucinogens since the beginning of time and most of these plants are concentrated in North and South America. The ninth chapter covers one drug only, marijuana. It is not a depressant or stimulant but has features of both, and some people even consider it a light psychedelic. The experienced high from marijuana can differ from person to person.
It wasn’t until the mid-1800s that a PhD student in Germany created an isolated cocaine alkaloid that would be used as the first anesthetic. Albert Niemann, the student who perfected cocaine purification process, noted many properties of drug. One journal esteemed its bitter taste and temporary numbness the pharmaceutical caused. By the late 1800s, the drug’s known applications became increasingly popular. Cocaine became the go-to cure for everything from epidurals to tooth aches. When combined with alcohol, the resulting cocaethylene generated a potent concoction with potent effects, making cocaine
A mixture of opium and alcohol was designed back in 1680. However this formula would not surface and be marketed until the 1900's by the Bayer company in Germany as a method to combat the cough associated along with Tuberculosis. It was also used as a method to treat morphine addictions, that is until it was discovered that heroin itself was extremely
Ecstasy, or 3, 4 methylenedioxymethamphetamine, was first synthesized and patented in 1914, by the German drug company Merck. The original purpose of the drug was to be an appetite suppressant, however in 1970 it was given to clinical depressed patients to open them up and talk about their feelings. Then in 1986, Ecstasy was determined to cause brain damage (http://faculity.washington.edu/chudler/mdma.html).
People use drugs, legal and illegal, because their lives are intolerably painful or dull” said Wendell Berry. The same could be said with a toxic organic compound named Morphine. Morphine is white, crystalline and odorless which contain 17 carbon, 19 hydrogen atoms, 1 nitrogen atom and 3 oxygen. (C17H19NO3) Under organic compounds, it’s classified in the “True Alkaloid” group as the nitrogen is organized in a heterocycle and originated from amino acid. Morphine are produced through an extraction from plants like “Papaver Somniferous” then processed or produced synthetically for medication and recreational purposes.
For thousands of years, opiates have been used in the treatment of pain. Opium is believed to have been discovered 6000 BC, and since then, it has had a huge impact on both medicine and the recreations of those seeking euphoria. More recent than the ancient discovery of natural opium are the derivatives of opium, such as the alkaloids morphine, codeine, and thebaine. From these alkaloids, semi-synthetic opiates can by synthesized, such as hydrocodone, and oxycodone. Synthetic opioids are also quite prevalent, which include fentanyl and tramadol. Opium can also be processed into heroin, a morphine derivative. As advancements were made in science and engineering to allow for a wider distribution and usage of opiates, the problems of dependence and overdose also increased drastically. According to Hart and Ksir (2013, p. 302), the invention of the hypodermic needle for intravenous administration of morphine and other drugs allowed for a much faster and more potent dose of the drug. With this increased potency came an increase in the possibility of a recreational intravenous user to overdose. Hart also mentions that some of the wars surrounding the era of the synthesis of morphine may have contributed to the rise of morphine, seeing as a medic soldier’s motto was always “first provide relief” (2013). This relief-driven attitude and extensive use of opioid analgesics in medicine during the time, in addition to the large amount of patent medicines and remedies on the market may
Drug use has surrounded us as a species since the stone age. The first references of alcohol were found within ancient Chinese civilizations, which date to roughly 9,000 years ago (McGovern, et al.). The original sources for these alcohols were rice and millet. One of the first surgical anesthetics used was opium. It is believed that some of the first Sumerian clay tablets contained basic prescriptions of opium for pain relief. Many Arabic cultures also used opium for diseases and issues relating to gastrointestinal issues and eye abnormalities (McGovern, et al.). Whether drugs were used for recreational purposes or for medicinal uses is left in the history.
In early 19th century Germany pharmacist FWA Serturner derived a new narcotic liquid from the opium poppy. This new product, morphine, was called after Morpheus, the Greek god of sleep. It was
The earliest form of painkillers was first created in the 16th century where people used laudanum or opium prepared in alcoholic solution as pain relivers. In the early 19th century, people extracted morphine from old opium poppy plants and this form of painkiller was most commonly used in the American Civil War. As Morphine was found to be very addictive, chemists in the 1870s produced heroin that did not turn out to be a success as it was proved to be more addictive than morphine. Many other synthetic opiates such as Vicodin, OxyContin, Percocet were produced respectively in 1984, 1995 and 1999. However, these synthetic opiates could only be given if prescribed by a doctor as they could also be addictive. There were also other options of
Opioids was first cultivated from the poppy seed, in the 3400s B.C. by the lower Mesopotamians, known as the “Hul Gil” or the “Joy Plant”. Such a small plant to give the ability of an aphrodisiac, calming affect over the body and mind, then best believe word traveled fast. The opioids effect made an impact on Hippocrates, “father of medicine”, who used the poppy seed as a liquid medication to help with the pain in certain cases between 460 to 357 B.C. Later, one Chinese doctor, sometime between 220-264 A.D., used the poppy opioids concoction for these undergoing operations and have the patients relax yet conscious. After a small disappearance from the public, opium pills were later concocted by Paracelsus and was named laudanum. Sometime much later, Friedich Wilhelm Adam Sertürner isolated morphine and it became the non-pain pill available throughout the world. It was a common drug during the American Civil War, thus beginning the opioids addiction. Then in 1898, heroin became manufactured as a substitute for morphine for its non-addictive state afterwards. In 1916, oxycodone was created to have less affective dependencies of morphine and heroin. Many laws have been passed to help the addiction and dependency for these drugs:
Chemical synthesis is an imperative technique most relevant to organic chemists. Synthesis employs a succession of chemical reactions by using pre-existing structures to make new and functional ones. A combination of lab techniques could be developed in order to synthesize and attain the desired product. This particular experiment calls for the use for reflux, extraction, recrystallization, infrared spectroscopy, and melting point analysis. The overall objective of this lab is to utilize these steps to synthesize acetaminophen from p-aminophenol and characterize it .
Codeine or methyl morphine, an alkaloid, was first isolated in 1832 from raw opium. It concentration ranges from 0.2% to 0.8%. Mostly used for its analgesic, anti-tussive and anti-diarrheal capabilities (Tremlett, Anderson and Wolf, 2010). Paracetamol also known as acetaminophen (n-acetyl-p-aminophenol, APAP) on the other hand, is a useful non- steroidal anti- inflammatory drug (NSAID). It is commonly
A Swiss chemist named Dr. Albert Hoffman first produced lysergic acid Diethylmide –or best known as LSD in 1938 (Dye, 1992, p. 2). Hoffman discovered the drug while trying to synthesize a new drug for the treatment of headaches. He obtained the lysergic acid from the parasitic fungus that grows on rye plants known as ergot. From the lysergic acid, he synthesized the compound LSD. He used the compound to test for its pain killing properties on laboratory animals. Being that appeared totally ineffective, the bottle of LSD was placed on a shelf and remained untouched for five years.
In this experiment, benzopinacol was to be synthesized through photochemical reaction and its acid-catalyzed rearrangement product benzopinacolone.