Opium thebaine

As in the case of the steroids, introduction of additional nuclear substituents yields morphine analogs of increased potency. The more important of these are derived from one of the minor alkaloids that occur in opium. Thebaine (14), present in crude opium in about one-tenth the amount of morphine, exhibits a reactive internal diene system that is well known to undergo various addition reactions in a 1,4 manner (e.g., bromination). Thus, reaction with hydrogen peroxide in acid may be visualized to afford first the 14-hydroxy-6-hemiketal (15). Hydrolysis yields the isolated unsaturated ketone (16). Catalytic reduction... 

According to historical records, around 1500 B.c. the use of opium, as well as its exportation, was beginning to take root. The city of Thebes was so well-known for its poppy fields that it lent its name to the active alkaloid in opium, thebaine. Alkaloids are any of a host of organic compounds, often complex in structure, derived from plants. Many [alkaloids] are useful as medicines and poisons. In medical texts left by the Egyptians, there are more than 700 medicines that contain opium. Under the... 

Opium is the dried, powdered sap of the unripe seed pod of Papaver somniferum, a poppy plant indigenous to Asia minor. Theophrastus described its medical properties in the third century BC, but the Sumerians, ca BC 4000, probably perceived its utility. Arab physicians knew of the dmg, and Arab traders carried it to the Orient where it was used as a treatment for dysentery. Paracelsus is credited with repopularizing the dmg in western Europe in the early sixteenth century by formulating opium into "laudanum", which is still in use. More than 20 different alkaloids (qv) of two different classes comprise 25% of the weight of dry opium. The benzylisoquinolines, characterized by papaverine [58-74-2] (1.0%), a smooth muscle relaxant, and noscapine [128-62-1] (6.0%), an antitussive agent, do not have any analgesic effects. The phenanthrenes, the second group, are the more common and include 10% morphine (1, = R = H), 0.5% codeine [76-57-3], C gH2 N03, (1, R = H, R = CH3), and 0.2 thebaine [115-37-7], C 2H2 N03, (2). 

The first scheme for the separation of the six chief alkaloids of opium, VIZ., morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine, narcotine and narceine, is probably that of Plugge. Much later Kljatschkina investigated for each of these six bases the properties by means of which isolation and estimation could probably be effected and, on the basis of the results, devised a plan for such analyses. More recently Anneler has published a detailed account of a scheme with the same objective. l Attention had already been given to complex, systematic analyses of this kind, in connection with examination of the mixtures of opium alkaloids, which have long been in use in medicine in these at first only morphine and other alkaloids were determined, but in the more recent schemes provision is made for the estimation of each alkaloid. ... 

The processes used in the manufacture of morphine are believed to be still based on that described by the Scottish chemist Gregory,in 1833, with improvements devised by Anderson. A description has been published by Schwyzer, who also deals with the manufactme of codeine, narcotine, cotarnine, and the commercially important morphine derivatives, diamorphine (diacetylmorphine), and ethylmorphine (morphine ethyl ether). More recently Barbier has given an account of processes, based on long experience in the preparation of alkaloids from opium. Kanewskaja has described a process for morphine, narcotine, codeine, thebaine and papaverine, and the same bases are dealt with by Chemnitius, with the addition of narceine, by Busse and Busse, and by Dott. It is of interest to note that a number of processes for the extraction and separation of opium alkaloids have been protected by patent in Soviet Russia. ... 

Thebaine, CjgHgiOgN. This base, which occurs in opium to the extent of 0-1 to 1 per cent., was first obtained by Pelletier and Thiboumery, who regarded it as isomeric with morphine, and named it paramorphine. It was examined by Kane, who first called it thebaine, and by Anderson, who described a method of isolation and provided the formula given above. It remains in the mother liquor after the removal of morphine and eodeine hydrochlorides in Gregory s process, and in Hesse s method of isolating it from this source is obtained as the acid tartrate. This is crystallised from hot water, and the alkaloid regenerated from it is reerystallised from dilute alcohol, from which it separates in leaflets, or from dry alcohol in prisms, m.p. 193°, — 218-6° (EtOH) or — 229-5°... 

A characteristic feature of the action of the opium alkaloids is their simultaneous depressing and exciting action on the central nervous system. In this respect there is no clear line of demarcation between the morphine group—morphine, codeine and thebaine—and the papaverine-narcotine group, and as the series is ascended in the order, morphine, papaverine, codeine, narcotine, thebaine, narcotic action diminishes and power of rellex stimulation increases until in thebaine a strychnine-like effect is exhibited. 

In the strict sense, opiates are drugs which are derived from opium and include the natural products morphine, codeine, thebaine and many semi-synthetic congeners derived from them. In the wider sense, opiates are morphine-like drugs with non-peptidic structures. The old term opiates is now more and more replaced by the term opioids which applies to any substance, whether endogenous or synthetic, pqrtidic or non-peptidic, that produces morphine-like effects through an action on opioid receptors. 

The starting material for these 14-hydroxy compounds is the opium alkaloid thebaine (9). Although present in only small amounts in the alkaloid fraction from Papaver somniferum, it constitutes the major component (as much as 26% of the dried latex) from a... 

There are two types of pharmaceutically important derivatives (a) Compounds with a hydroxyl substituent at position 14, such as in oxycodone and the antagonists naloxone and naltrexone, and (b) Diels-Alder adducts such as etorphine and buprenorphine, where the latter compounds are all derived from another opium alkaloid, (—)-thebaine (12) (Scheme 5.10). Because thebaine is a rather scarce alkaloid, several syntheses have been investigated. Quite recently, Australian scientists have been able to modify P. somniferum in such a way that thebaine is now a main alkaloid, so that it is becoming better available [28],... 

More than 30 alkaloids have been identified in opium (Robbers et al. 1996). The most relevant are morphine (4-21%), codeine (0.8-2.5%), noscapine (4-8%), papaverine (0.5-2.5%), and thebaine (0.5-2%) (figure 8.4). Other opium alkaloids include narceine, protopine, laudanine, codamine, cytopine, lanthopine, and meconidine. Numerous other opioids have been synthesized from opium alkaloids. Among them is heroin, or diacetylmorphine. 

In the first place, the structure of the target molecule is submitted to a rational analysis in order to perceive the most significant structural features, and it may be useful to use different types of molecular models at this point. It should be remembered that a molecular structure has "thousand faces" and finding the most convenient perspective may greatly simplifly the synthetic problem. The synthesis of opium alkaloids, for instance, is much simplified if one realises that they are, in fact, derivatives of benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline (18) (see Scheme 3.8). This was indeed the inspired intuition of Sir Robert Robinson which led to the structural elucidation of morphine (19) and to a first sketch of the biogenetic pathway [22], and later on to the biomimetic synthesis of thebaine 20 [23] [24]. 

Both morphine and codeine are valuable analgesics. Morphine is extracted from opium, the dried latex of the opium poppy, and codeine is usually obtained from morphine by semi-synthesis (see Box 6.2), since the amounts in opium are rather small. Thebaine is a valuable raw material for semi-synthesis of a wide range of morphine-like drugs. 

The most known narcotics are the opium alkaloids such as morphine, codeine, thebaine, papaverine, noscapine and their derivatives and modified compounds such as nalmorphine, apomorphine, apomopholcodine, dihydrocodeine, hydro-morphone and heroine, also known as diamorphine. Synthetic narcotics share the structural skeleton of morphine and include dextromethorphan, pentazocine, phenazocine meperidine (pethidine), phentanyl, anfentaitil, remifentalin, methadone, dextropropoxyphene, levoproxyphene, dipipanone, dextromoramide, meptazinol and tramadol. Thebaine derivatives are also modified narcotics and include oxycodone, oxymorphone, etorphine, buprenorphine, nalbuphine, naloxone or naltrexone. Narcotics can be semi-synthesized or totally synthesized from the morphine and thebaine model. The compounds serve various purposes in clinical practise. 

But the question remains if OxyContin is such a great drug, why the concern It stems from the fact that OxyContin comes from the poppy plant, in the form of the alkaloid thebaine. While less powerful than raw opium, and certainly much less powerful than heroin, thebaine is still an opiate... 

Opium and opiate, and any salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium or opiate excluding apomorphine, thebaine-derived butorphanol, dextror-phan, nalbuphine, nalmefene, naxolone, and naltrexone, and their respective salts, but including the following ... 

II High Yes Codeine, morphine, meperidine Same as Schedule 1 (Demerol), opium poppy, opium tincture (Laudanum), granulated opium, powdered opium, raw opium, oxycodone (OxyContin, Percocet), thebaine... 

The opium is obtained from the opium poppy Papaver somniferum. It contains two type of alkaloids e.g. phenanthrene derivatives (morphine, codeine thebaine) and benzyl isoquinoline derivatives (papaverine and noscapine). 

As is often the case with complex natural products, opium, the dried sap from papaver somniferum, contains a number of structurally closely related compounds. One of these minor constituents, thebaine (6-1), although itself devoid of signihcant... 

Buprenorphine is a semi-synthetic derivative of thebaine, one of the opium alkaloids. It is approximately 30 times as potent as morphine. A dose of 0.3 mg intramuscularly has a duration of analgesic action of 6-18 h. Buprenorphine is also effective sublingually. The average bio-availability by this route is about 55%, but absorption is slow and the time to achieve peak plasma concentrations is variable, with a range of 90-360 min. The onset of action is rather slow (5-15 min) after both intramuscular and intravenous administration, possibly due to slow receptor association. Buprenorphine binds to and dissociates from the p receptor very slowly, which may account for its low potential for physical abuse. It also means that buprenorphine-induced respiratory depression is difficult to reverse with naloxone, even with very high doses. Doxapram may in these circumstances be useful. Drowsiness and dizziness are the most common side effects, although they rarely... 

Papaver somniferum L. Yu Mei Ku (Opium poppy) (whole plant) Berberine, codeine, papaverine, isocorypalmine, laudanine, magnoflorine, meconine, 6-methylocodine, morphine, narcotine, pseudomorphine, rhoeadine, sanguinarine, beta-sitosterol, stigmasterol, thebaine, zanthaline.50 Antitussive, antispasmodic, analgesic, astringent, narcotic, treat chronic enteritis, diarrhea, enterorrhagia, headache, toothache, asthma. 

The first group contains the natural products morphine, codeine and thebaine, which have been isolated from the natural product opium. In addition, the group contains various semi-synthetic derivatives of morphine, codeine and thebaine, which are prepared by chemical modifications of these natural products... 

Following the isolation of morphine by Serturner in 1805 further alkaloids were isolated from opium, for example narcotine in 1817, codeine in 1832, thebaine in 1835 and papaverine in 1848. 

Opium alkaloids such as codeine, thebaine, papaverine, and noscapine exhibit high solubility (0.09-0.9 mg/g) in supercritical fluids including CO N,0, CHF, [37]. However, in spite of their high solubilities, they were not extracted from plant material by pure CO, to the degree expected [29], possibly because these alkaloids exist as their salt forms in plant tissue. In this chapter, the examples that show the difference of the solubilities between alkaloidal free bases and salts are presented. For this comparison, the solubilities of the free bases of hyoscyamine (1), scopolamine (2), pseudoephedrine (6) were measured and compared with those of their hydrochloride salts (Figures 3 and 4). 

---