The Importance Of Morphine

Purpose
The purpose is to research the reactions that morphine undergoes and its importance is the studies of grade 12 students, as well as its uses in health, its effect on the environment, its role in a large industry of narcotics, and the risks and benefits associated with morphine.

Morphine has been used over the course of thousands of years for both medicinal and recreational purposes it is derived from the opium poppy. The milk like liquid that seeps from a cut of the flower is what has been dried and used as an analgesic since ancient times. The earliest mention of opium growth was in 3,400 B.C., in lower Mesopotamia 1. Since then the growth of opiates has spread across the globe. The most active opiate in the poppy is morphine.
It was used a painkiller, but because of its addictive effects, most chemists tried to find a way to keep the same painkilling properties while removing the addictive side effect.

Codeine, which is a less powerful drug is found in the same opium plant and was extracted and then semi-synthesized. After chemists began trying to find a less addictive alternative to morphine, codeine was used mainly as a cough remedy leading to the discovery of heroin in 1874.2 Heroin, however, is twice as potent making it a serious problem. Throughout the next hundred years, many new synthesized drugs began to appear on the market; examples of this, methadone, vicodin, oxycontin, and percocet. All these synthetic opiates are those that mimic the human body’s own painkiller.
Figure 1. Molecular structure of morphine 3

Molecular Formula:C17H19NO3 3
IUPAC name: (4R, 4aR, 7S, 7aR, 12bS)-3-methyl-2,4,4a,7,
7a,13-hexahydro-1H-4,12-methanobenzofuro[3,2-e]
Isoquinoline-7,9-diol 3
Solubility: 149 mg/L (at 20℃)

Figure 2. Chemical structure of morphine 4

Functional groups:
Phenol, also called a carbolic acid (structural formula C6H5OH)
Tertiary amine
Allylic alcohol (structural formula CHCH2OH)
Ether

Discussion The altering of morphine’s structure has opened the opportunity to synthesize non-narcotic drugs with other uses and benefits. Nearly all semi-synthetic opioids, both of the morphine and codeine subgroups are created by one of the following reactions.

Addition An addition reaction occurs when two molecules are added to form a bigger molecule with no other products.
Figure 3. Chemical structure of morphine including position numbers. 6

Adding a methyl group to the alcohol group at position 3 yields codeine.
This reaction is also called, methylation. Methylation designates the addition of a methyl group on an atom 7. It is a form of alkylation with a methyl group, instead of a larger carbon chain it replaces the hydrogen atom with a methyl group which then yields codeine. Codeine can be used to treat mild to moderate pain, primarily used to treat coughing. Codeine is often times combined with other non-narcotic painkillers, or cough medications which then works by affecting the parts of the brain to treat cough and pain. Common symptoms for chronic coughing are;
- runny or stuffy nose `-frequent throat clearing and sore throat -hoarseness -wheezing and shortness of breath -heartburn or a sour taste in your mouth -in rare cases, coughing up blood 8 Codeine works to suppress the cough reflex in the brain to reduce coughing. Without the methylation, addition reaction, of morphine which yields codeine, something as simple as a cough could not be treated as efficiently.
Halogenation Halogenation is a reaction in which a halogen (F, Cl, Br, I) reacts with another substance and thus becomes part of that substance. Morphine undergoes many forms of halogenation, creating many derivatives 9. This reaction occurs at the 1 and/or 2 position on the morphine structure (refer to Figure 3.).
Figure 4. Chemical structure of 1-iodomorphine 10
This is 1-iodomorphine in which iodine is on the first carbon. The synthesis of this derivative, along with others, has assisted in pharmacological, neurological, metabolic and endocrine research. It has also assisted in the discovery of opioid receptors in the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system and other tissues in the human body. 10
Hydrogenation
Hydrogenation is a chemical reaction between hydrogen and another substance usually in the presence of a catalyst such as nickel, palladium or platinum. 11 This process is used to saturate or reduce organic compounds. The hydrogenation of morphine’s double carbon bonds between position 7 and 8 (refer to Figure 3.) produces dihydromorphine.
Figure 5.Chemical structures of morphine and dihydromorphine depicting the hydrogenation reaction. 12

By cause of the hydrogen’s presence the molecule is reduced, losing its double bond. Dihydromorphine is a semi-synthetic opioid derived from morphine as an analgesic with similar side-effect profiles. It is used in scientific research to study opioid binding receptors in the nervous system.
Hydrolysis
Chemically breaking down a molecule due to a reaction with water. This molecule starts out as morphine-6-glucuronide, after a reaction with water occurs the molecule breaks down into morphine and glucuronic acid. Beta-glucuronidase is an enzyme used as a mediator is this reaction. Morphine- 6-glucuronide (M6G) is the active metabolite of morphine which acts in the pain relieving. Glucuronic acid is also important for metabolism it is also found in many gums such as gum arabic and xanthan. 13
Figure 6. Hydrolysis reaction of morphine-6-glucuronide with a beta-glucuronidase enzyme.13

Conclusion
Morphine is an analgesic and narcotic drug obtained from opium and used medicinally to relieve pain. This means that it is sleep-inducing and a numbing drug and yet it doesn’t alter consciousness. It has a hand to play on health, industry, and the environment, morphine has many benefits, medicinally, but all narcotics have a risk and some are greater than others.

Opium is a substance that is found a specific species of poppy. Opium is synthesized legally and illegally to produce medicines such as morphine, codeine and others it also happens to produce the black-market drug, heroin. These illegal plantations are found in large areas of the middle-east and southeast asia. These plants prosper in limestone rich soils in mountain areas which can be environmentally delicate 14. Opium plantations are more times out of the other grown on land that has been illegally cleared using methods such as, logging, insecticided, and fertilized which allows these plantations to yield as much crop as possible. With such a large disregard towards the impacts on both the social and environmental aspects of these plantations the consequences are massive. Landslide, flooding, erosion, and drought can all be traced back to the colossal amount of opium farming. The opium industry is susceptible to corruption is areas that are controlled by warlords, mafia, and military dictatorships. 14 The demands for opium are not reduced by loss of crops but increase in response to demand and prices thus causing more ecological damage. Farmers in this region are then unwillingly made to clear forests and farm land, due to their financial benefit and because of the tension from these warlords, drug gangs and governments who benefit the most from the increased production of opium in these regions. Overall this ecological damage is incredibly consequential not only for the environment but societies and industries that surround these “cash crops”.

In health, morphine is used to relieve moderate to severe pain, it belongs to class of drugs called narcotics. This analgesic works in the neural system to relieve pain effectively. Morphine is used for a number of reasons, it is used for relief of pain caused by heart attack or myocardial infarction, the pain associated with this is severe and/or excruciating chest pain that radiates throughout the body. This pain causes an imminent feeling of death,thus causing more stress and damage to the heart. Morphine aids in the ease of pain and stress relaxing the patient. This is one of the most important uses of morphine in today’s clinical practice. It provides relief of joint and muscle pain, and pain caused by severe injuries. Morphine can be used as a general and regional anesthesia, to sedate a patient. Morphine is used in a variety of different scenarios and in a variety of different ways.15

Although there are many health benefits to taking morphine when needed, there is always a risk to taking an especially addictive narcotic.
Morphine has a high potential for addiction because of its effects on the brain’s pathways. Morphine abuse is especially dangerous if the user has a history of abuse and/or addiction. There are other factors associated with the risk of abuse such as; mental illness, it is mixed with other substances, used recreationally, or used more than prescribed. Another risk is that life-threatening respiratory problems may arise if morphine intake is mixed with alcohol consumption 16. An environmental risk is that the demand for opium causes the creation of illegal plantation and thus will directly affect ecological systems because of illegal logging, and chemical insecticide use and
fertilization.

Morphine is a narcotic primarily used medicinally. It participates in many reactions; addition, halogenation, hydrogenation, and hydrolysis. It has a great deal of negative affects on the environment and the industry that surrounds its illegal production. It has many benefits in health and medicine, aiding in the relief of pain in a variety of different scenarios. And although there is ample risk of addiction and/or abuse, if taken correctly and as prescribed it can be used safely to treat a patient’s needs. Overall morphine is beneficial in health but some of the environmental risks are colossal causing a negative stigma around morphine.