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Ok! Y'all have spoken. Let's talk about drug names.
Read this thread if you always hated chemistry in school and want to finally see it for the cool, thrilling, and useful field that it is. (1/19)
Read this thread if you always hated chemistry in school and want to finally see it for the cool, thrilling, and useful field that it is. (1/19)
There are A LOT of different ways to name any given molecule. Heroin, for example, is also correctly called diamorphine, diacetylmorphine, acetylated morphine, and (5α,6α)-7,8-didehydro-4,5-epoxy-17-methylmorphinan-3,6-diol diacetate. Yikes. So let's look at common names. (2/19)
Let's start with opioids.
Opium is the genesis of this class. It's natural - derived from poppy latex (sap). "Opium" comes from the Greek word "opion", for poppy juice. By the 15th century, the word "opium" had emerged. "-oid" is a Greek suffix meaning "like". (3/19)
Opium is the genesis of this class. It's natural - derived from poppy latex (sap). "Opium" comes from the Greek word "opion", for poppy juice. By the 15th century, the word "opium" had emerged. "-oid" is a Greek suffix meaning "like". (3/19)
So an opioid is something that's like opium.
Let's return to heroin. As mentioned, it has lots of names. "Heroin" is the trade name coined by Bayer, who developed heroin for the commercial market. Yes, the company now famous for aspirin first gave us commercial heroin. (4/19)
Let's return to heroin. As mentioned, it has lots of names. "Heroin" is the trade name coined by Bayer, who developed heroin for the commercial market. Yes, the company now famous for aspirin first gave us commercial heroin. (4/19)
Heroin's chemical name is diacetylmorphine. So let's visit morphine first!
Morphine was made by the great alkaloid chemist Friederich Sertürner in the early 1800s. It's isolated from poppies, making it an opiate. ("-ate" is a Latin suffix that groups like things together.) (5/19)
Morphine was made by the great alkaloid chemist Friederich Sertürner in the early 1800s. It's isolated from poppies, making it an opiate. ("-ate" is a Latin suffix that groups like things together.) (5/19)
Sertürner noted that ppl he gave it to tended to fall asleep, so he named it after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams. (Ovid said that Morpheus could appear in one's dreams in human form and talk to the dreamer. If you didn't catch this in The Matrix, well, there you go.) (6/19)
Morphine has a structure that allows for easy modification. We can use its -OH groups (left side) as attachment points for new things. Heroin and codeine are the two most famous derivatives, called morphinans. (-an in this case means that morphinans pertain to morphine.) (7/19)
So back to heroin. Heroin's common chemical name is diacetylmorphine. "Di-" refers to two. The "acetyl" part describes these groups highlighted in red - acetyl groups. So "Diacetylmorphine" means that it's morphine, but with two acetyls. This is shortened to "diamorphine". (8/19)
Let's move on to the amphetamines!
"Amphetamine" is an acronym that describes its structure. It stands for alpha-methylphenethylamine. A = the alpha carbon (orange star), m = the methyl on the alpha carbon, ph = the phenyl ring, et = the ethyl group, amine = the NH2. (9/19)
"Amphetamine" is an acronym that describes its structure. It stands for alpha-methylphenethylamine. A = the alpha carbon (orange star), m = the methyl on the alpha carbon, ph = the phenyl ring, et = the ethyl group, amine = the NH2. (9/19)
"Methamphetamine" follows similarly. Its name tells us that there's an additional methyl (CH3) attached to the original structure.
You can see that starting from amphetamine, we pulled a hydrogen (H) off of the amine, and attached the substituted methyl in its place. (10/19)
You can see that starting from amphetamine, we pulled a hydrogen (H) off of the amine, and attached the substituted methyl in its place. (10/19)
Meth is synthetic, meaning we made it in a lab. The technique was refined in 1919: reducing ephedrine w red phosphorous and iodine (the Nagai method). But different techniques have emerged (one-pot Birch reduction) and will continue to emerge. Necessity breeds invention. (11/19)
Cocaine is a good example of mixed naming conventions. "Cocaine" splits into coca- and -ine. "Coca" is the Spanish form of a Quecha word, "kuka, or "koka". After the Spanish colonized South America, Incan words started changing to sound more Spanish. Such is colonialism. (12/19)
Coca is a plant native to the Andean jungles. People have been chewing its leaves and drinking coca tea for thousands of years. "-ine" is a chemistry suffix that refers to alkaloids, which are organic molecules (and usually natural) w a nitrogen and a basic pH. (13/19)
While cocaine can be made in a lab, for political and economic reasons, it's always been cheaper to grow coca and process the plant to extract cocaine. That's true today, and it has become a pressing economic, political, and environmental issue. (14/19) https://wearemitu.com/things-that-matter/colombia-legalizing-cocaine/
Like amphetamine, "MDMA" is also an acronym. It stands for 3,4-MethyleneDioxyMethAmphetamine. (The 3,4 just refers to positioning.) This is a deeply unsexy name, so it's unsurprising that it's been given many slang names, like Ecstasy.
The story of that name is wild. (15/19)
The story of that name is wild. (15/19)
It was coined by a man named Michael Clegg. Clegg was a former Catholic priest based in the great city of Austin. 
In the 70s, he tried MDMA and was blown away. He became a true kingpin of the drug, mass producing it and launching it strategically in Dallas and Austin. (16/19)
In the 70s, he tried MDMA and was blown away. He became a true kingpin of the drug, mass producing it and launching it strategically in Dallas and Austin. (16/19)
But it needed a good name.
Speaking to a writer for Playboy, he said "I had to convince people who didn’t do drugs to try one no one had heard of. I was telling people it would let them see God. Then it came to me: It was pure ecstasy." And the rest is history. (17/19)
Speaking to a writer for Playboy, he said "I had to convince people who didn’t do drugs to try one no one had heard of. I was telling people it would let them see God. Then it came to me: It was pure ecstasy." And the rest is history. (17/19)
The modern name for MDMA is molly, which is a cute-ification of "molecule" or "molecular", meant to imply that it's pure. In reality, molly is very often contaminated with all kinds of other substances. If you use molly, test it. (18/19) http://bit.ly/3dc9dT5
Let me know if you have questions, want more nuanced explanations, or have requests for other substances!
Drugs are incredibly misunderstood, and have always been with us. Our most ancient civilizations used drugs, and we'll continue to do so. Time to get to know them. (19/19)
Drugs are incredibly misunderstood, and have always been with us. Our most ancient civilizations used drugs, and we'll continue to do so. Time to get to know them. (19/19)
