Morphine is an alkaloid with a structure composed of many rings. The structure has 5 chiral centers, giving way to a high degree of stereoselectivity of analgesic action. There are over 250 derivatives of morphine that have been made over the last century, including another very common drug, Codeine. By halogenating or making modifications at position 1 or 2 in the carbon chain, many of these other semi-synthetic compounds can be made.
Morphine was first marketed in 1817 as an analgesic and cure for alcohol addiction. The drug gained immediate popularity and became commercially produced by the pharmaceutical company Merck around 10 years later in Germany. Due to its high potential for abuse, morphine became a controlled substance by the government in 1914 and to this day remains illegal without a doctor's prescription.
Do they use morphine now to cure alcohol addiction?
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize that morphine was classified as an opiod and came from poppies as well. Very interesting! I love the structure, with all of those crazy rings, it looks like a really neat, 3D molecule. I was surprised to see that there are over 250 derivatives, too, that's really interesting that it is so malleable. I wonder what happens within the seed pods as they ripen that would make them different and not produce the morphine?
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