Anesthetics, design effects

GHB, short for its chemical name gamma hydroxybutyrate, is a potent sedative and a depressant of the central nervous system. GHB was first synthesized in the 1920s, although it was not specifically designed to mimic another existing drug. In the 1960s, GHB was developed for possible use as an anesthetic. However, the makers of GHB later withdrew it from consideration for approval by the U.S. FDA because of severe side effects reported by patients. 

Compounds 33-36 were designed for examination of the conformational effects of both the ethanolamine and the propanolamine series of local anesthetics within the same conformationally rigid ring framework. Both 33 and 36 were considered conformational analogs of procaine in which the N-C-C-0... 

Figure 16.33 illustrates how simplified synthetic copies of cocaine were designed. The change from cocaine to procaine retains the local anesthetic effects without keeping the narcotic properties. 

---