Fentanyl molecule

The number of synthetic drugs that can be derived from the fentanyl molecule is almost limitless. Variations of fentanyl devised in street labs continue to appear,... 

The introduction of the /jara-methoxymethyl moiety and the subsequent replacement of the bioisosteric phenyl group with a 2-thiophenyl into the fentanyl molecule give rise to a 10 times enhancement in the prevailing mu opioid activity. 

Morphine has certain undesirable side effects. Among these are respiratory depression, nausea, and vomiting, depression of the cough reflex, cardiovascular depression and hypotension, smooth muscle contraction (constipation), and histamine release (93). Morphine s onset of action, duration, and low therapeutic indices have prompted a search for a more effective opiate iv anesthetic. Extreme simplification of the complex morphine molecule has resulted in anilido —piperidines, the fentanyl class of extremely potent opiate iv anesthetics (118,119). 

As electroporation is still largely in the experimental stage and may possibly be never used clinically, many workers have employed model nontherapeutic molecules to demonstrate the feasibility of its use, such as sulforhodamine, calcein, and caffeine. However, more therapeutic and biotechnologically derived molecules have now been investigated for transdermal delivery, including, for example, fentanyl [22], metoprolol [21], timolol [36], flurbiprofen [37], cyclosporin [38], heparin [39], oligonucleotides [40], and genes [41]. 

In addition, A -tetrazoUne-5-ones are interesting molecules for medicine in the field of anesthesia and obesity. Fentanyl (165), which is a synthetic opioid from the family of anilinopiperidines [126], is a very potent analgesic, though its action is difficult to control. Based on the structure of fentanyl... 

The nasal administration was shown to be an effective administration route for lipophilic active substances like fentanyl. Moreover, the nasal route has also been used for the systemic administration of small peptides like buserelin acetate, nafarelin acetate and desmopressin, aU of them containing ten or less amino acid residues. However, for these molecules the nasal route forms only a poor non-invasive alternative to injection, since the nasal bioavailability of these peptides is less than 3-5 %. 

Fig. 8.3 Space-fining ball-and-s(ick (la-4a, lc-4c) and CPK (lb-4b, ld-4d) three-dimensional molecular models of the structures of morphine (la-ld), methadone (2a-2d), meperidine (3a-3d), and fentanyl (4a-4d). (For two-dimensional structures of morphine, methadone, meperidine, and fentanyl refer to Fig. 8.1). Conventional colors used for different atoms are shown in structures la-4a and lb-4b. In structures Ic- c and ld-4d the morphine pharmacophore of a tertiary alkylamine at least three atoms away from, and including, an aromatic ring is shown in blue while the rest of the molecule is shown in light gray. For methadone, the...

Based on these prior studies, a liposome-encapsulated drug carrier system has been developed in order to overcome fentanyls short dilation of action. Liposomes are microscopic vesicles composed of an aqueous compartment surroimded by a phospholipid bilayer that acts as a permeable barrier to entrap molecules. Incorporation of a drug within a hposome provides a controlled, sustained release system. 

As shown in Fig. 3, the retention factors and asymmetry values measured on one of the five supports covered a wide range of values, due to the different physicochemical properties of the selected test compounds. For example, some of the test compounds (diphenhydramine, methadone, nortriptyline, fentanyl) were strongly retained, especially in mobile phase 3. This behavior is strictly correlated with their physicochemical properties, since these analytes are large and lipophilic. On the other hand, small and polar molecules were only sKghtly retained under all of the chromatographic conditions. 

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