Nerve block, cocaine mimic

Q48 was synthesised to mimic the nerve-blocking activity of cocaine Q49 is indicated for dementia in Alzheimer s disease Q50 was originally derived from the bark of the yew tree... 

Benzocaine is an anaesthetic drug that was originally synthesised to mimic the nerve blocking activity of cocaine. 

A frequently cited example of an important natural-product-derived drag is the neuromuscular blocker d-tubocurarine, derived from the South American plant curare, which was used by South American Indians as an arrow poison (see Chapter 26). Tubocurarine led to the development of decamethonium, which, although structurally dissimilar to tubocurarine, was nevertheless synthesized based on the then prevalent presumption that tubocurarine contained two quaternary nitrogens. Similarly, synthetic local anesthetics, such as lidocaine, benzocaine, and dibucaine, were synthesized to mimic the nerve-blocking effect of cocaine, a natural alkaloid obtained from the leaves of Coca eroxylum, but without the adverse side effects that have led to its abuse. 

Figure 4.1. Structures of lidocaine (left) and cocaine (right). These compounds are administered and used as local anesthetics in the form of their hydrochloride salts. In these proton-ated forms, they act as sodium cation mimics and block ion channels critical to the propagation of nerve signals.

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