Codeinone is 1/3 as active as

codeine Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and diarrhea. It is also commonly used as a recreational drug. It is found naturally in the sap of the opium poppy, ''Papaver somniferum''. It is typically use ...

as an

analgesic An analgesic drug, also called simply an analgesic (American English), analgaesic (British English), pain reliever, or painkiller, is any member of the group of drugs used to achieve relief from pain (that is, analgesia or pain management). It ...

but it is an important intermediate in the production of hydrocodone, a painkiller about 3/4 the potency of morphine; as well as of oxycodone. The latter can also be synthesized from thebaine, however.

Chemical structure

Codeinone can be described as the methylether of morphinone: 3-methyl-morphinone. Codeinone can be also described as the

ketone In organic chemistry, a ketone is a functional group with the structure R–C(=O)–R', where R and R' can be a variety of carbon-containing substituents. Ketones contain a carbonyl group –C(=O)– (which contains a carbon-oxygen double bo ...

: codeine-6-one.

Apoptotic activity

Through renewed interest into possible anti-tumor activities of some of the

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

alkaloids and derivatives, unrelated to their antinociceptive properties and habit-forming effects, the oxidation product of codeine has been found to induce cell death in three different human cancer cell lines ''in vitro''.Hitosugi N, Nagasaka H, Sakagami H, Matsumoto I, Kawase M (2003). ''Anticancer Res.'' 23(3B):2569-76.

References

Catechol ethers Enones 4,5-Epoxymorphinans Mu-opioid receptor agonists Semisynthetic opioids {{analgesic-stub