Date of Defense

4-24-2015

Date of Graduation

5-2015

Department

Chemistry

First Advisor

James Kiddle

Second Advisor

Elke Schoffers

Third Advisor

Todd Barkman

Abstract

Opium poppy has been utilized as a drug as far back as 1500 B.C., where it has been documented in The Ebers Papyrus. The use of opium started to increase due to the trading of the isolated latex. In 1805, Serturner discovered morphine as an active ingredient in opium. Due to its effects, morphine has made its way into medicine to be used as an analgesic and anesthetic. However, the use of morphine causes depression of respiration, constipation, tolerance, and dependence. These side effects are not pleasant to the user which is why many scientists have dove into the subject of opioids. Further research on opium has discovered other active components, which are derivatives of morphine. These include codeine, naltrexone, naloxone, etc. Synthesis of other morphine derivatives have been attempted and resulted in very poor yields. This is why commercially available morphine is still obtained through extraction from opium poppy. The drive to synthesize an opioid derivative efficiently is a high priority. The goal would be produce a molecule with the same strength of morphine, but without the major side effects.

Access Setting

Honors Thesis-Restricted

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