Codeine oxidation

Taber (2002) plan for (-)-codeine oxidative cleavage of cyclopentene ring by ozonolysis followed by recyclization to form cyclohexone ring (steps 16 and 17). 

Hydromorphone [466-99-9] (31) and hydrocodone [125-29-1] (32) are isomers of morphine and codeine, respectively. Hydromorphone can be prepared by catalytic rearrangement of morphine (49) or by oxidation of the aliphatic hydroxyl group of dihydromorphine (50). Hydrocodone can be similarly prepared. As an antitussive, hydromorphone is several times more active than morphine and hydrocodone is slightly more active than codeine. Hydromorphone has a much higher addiction potential than hydrocodone. 

It is known that not all reactions proceed in the same manner on all adsorbent layers because the material in the layer may promote or retard the reaction. Thus, Ganshirt [209] was able to show that caffeine and codeine phosphate could be detected on aluminium oxide by chlorination and treatment with benzidine, but that there was no reaction with the same reagent on silica gel. Again the detection of amino acids and peptides by ninhydrin is more sensitive on pure cellulose than it is on layers containing fluorescence indicators [210]. The NBP reagent (. v.) cannot be employed on Nano-Sil-Ci8-100-UV2S4 plates because the whole of the plate background becomes colored. 

The three alkaloids concerned, morphine, codeine and thebaine, all behave as tertiary bases. Morphine contains two hydroxyl groups of which one is phenolic and the other a secondary alcohol group. On methylation of the phenolic hydroxyl codeine results. On oxidation, codeine is transformed into codeinone by conversion of the secondary alcohol group into a carbonyl group, and when thebaine is boiled with A-sulphuric acid for a few minutes, it is hydrolysed into codeinone and methyl sulphate, and in other ways thebaine has been shown to contain two methoxyl groups. That the relationship between the three alkaloids is close may be illustrated by the following slightly extended formula —... 

Considerable progress has also been made with the alternative line of work, the search for a synthetic analgesic as effective as morphine and without its disadvantages. The work of the American Committee has shown that it is possible to produce analgesics with a dibenzofuran or carbazole nucleus in place of the phenanthrene or phcnanthrylene oxide nucleus of morphine and it is stated that synthetic products with analgesic potency equal to that of codeine have been prepared. In the 1938 report moderate analgesic potency was recorded for preparation No. 421, 9-methyl-2-(l-hydroxy-3-diethylamino)-propylcarbazole at 10 mgm. by injection. 

Catalytic reduction of codeine (2) affords the analgesic dihydrocodeine (7) Oxidation of the alcohol at 6 by means of the Oppenauer reaction gives hydrocodone (9)an agent once used extensively as an antitussive. It is of note that treatment of codeine under strongly acidic conditions similarly affords hydrocodone by a very unusual rearrangement of an allyl alcohol to the corresponding enol, followed by ketonization. 

Singer and Scammells have investigated the y-Mn02 oxidation of codeine methyl ether (CME) to thebaine in the ionic liquid [BMIM][BF4] [63]. The ionic liquid was used in different ways and with mixed results (Scheme 5.1-35). For example, the oxidation of CME in the ionic liquid gave 38 % yield after 120 hours. A similar reaction under biphasic conditions (with diethyl ether) gave a 36 % yield of thebaine. This reaction gave a 25 % yield of thebaine when carried out in tetrahydrofuran... 

Finally, it should be mentioned that ionic liquids have successfully been used in classical, stoichiometric oxidation reactions as well. Singer et al., for example, described the application of [BMIM][Bp4] in the oxidation of codeine methyl ether to thebaine [64]. The ionic liquid was used here as a very convenient solvent to extract excess Mn02 and associated impurities from the reaction mixture. 

In addition the role played by the sorbent on which the chromatography is carried out must not be neglected. For instance, it is only on aluminium oxide layers and not on silica gel that it is possible to detect caffeine and codeine by exposure to chlorine gas and treatment with potassium iodide — ben2idine [37]. The detection limits can also depend on the sorbent used. The detection limit is also a function of the h/ f value. The concentration of substance per chromatogram zone is greater when the migration distance is short than it is for components with high h/ f values. Hence, compounds with low h/ f values are more sensitively detected. 

Scheme 4 The initial steps in the metaholism of morphine and codeine hy Pseudomonas putida MIO involved in the oxidation process...

Kunz et al. at DuPont examined the oxidation of codeine by cultures of... 

It was postulated [152, 153] that the aryl amine is oxidized by direct oxygen transfer from Compound I to the substrate. In contrast, for the oxidation of alkaloids, e.g. morphine, codeine and thebaine (Eq. 12), to the corresponding N-oxi-des by hydrogen peroxide in the presence of HRP or crude enzyme preparation from poppy seedlings, a radical mechanism was proposed [154]. 

Catalytic reduction of codeine gives dihydrocodeine and Oppenauer oxidation (a ketone such as acetone and an aluminum alkoxide, the ketone being reduced to an alcohol) gives hydrocodone. Hydrocodone can also be prepared directly from codeine with a metal catalyst, which isomerizes the allylic alcohol to a ketone. Codeine is prepared by methylation of morphine, which is isolated from the opium poppy. Hydrocodone is more potent than codeine. Acetaminophen is a mild analgesic and is discussed in Section 8. 

Oxycodone The synthesis of oxycodone, 4,5-epoxy-3-methoxy-14-hydroxy-iV-methyl-6-oxomorphinane (3.1.25), from 14-hydroxycodeinone (3.1.24) was described above. It can also be synthesized in other ways for example, by the oxidation of codeine using sodium dichromate in acetic acid [17], and is also a stractural analog of morphine and codeine. 

Hydrocodone Hydrocodone, 4,5-epoxy-3-methoxy-Af-methyl-6-oxomorphinane (3.1.27), is a compound that is chemically related to morphine and codeine. Hydrocodone is synthesized by the isomerization of codeine (3.1.20) using a palladium or platinum catalyst [18]. This drug has also been suggested to be synthesized by the hydration of codeinone [19] and by oxidation of dihydrocodeine [20]. 

The asymmetric synthesis of (+)-Codeine 432 devised by White and colleagues included a Beckmann rearrangement to introduce the nitrogen atom in the carbocyclic structure (equation 182). Even though two isomeric lactams 430 and 431 were obtained as a result of the rearrangement, the preferential migration of the bridgehead carbon atom produced 430 as the predominant isomer. The synthesis of the non-natural enantiomer of Codeine was completed after oxidation, olefin formation and reduction. 

Cortisol into 7- 3-hydroxycortisol. Epoxidation Benzene into benzene 1,2-epoxide. N-oxidation Drug containing amino groups can undergo N-oxidation i.e. imipramine into imipramine N-oxide. 0-dealkylation This reaction probably Involves formation of an unstable hydroxy methyl Intermediate I.e. codeine Into morphine. 

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