Nepinalone is a
cough suppressant
Cold medicines are a group of medicinal, medications taken individually or in Combination drug, combination as a Symptomatic treatment, treatment for the symptoms of the common cold and similar conditions of the upper respiratory tract. The t ...
. Its brand names include Placatus, Tussolvina, and Nepitus.
The effect is evident after 20–30 minutes after administration and persists for at least 4 hours. It acts primarily at the level of the CNS, but also shows a slight activity in inhibiting the bronchospasm. In such use, it is less effective than codeine and more effective than dextromethorphan in inhibiting the tussive stimulus
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Synthesis
![Nepinalone synthesis](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/75/Nepinalone_synthesis.svg)
The starting material is called 2-Phenylpropanoyl Chloride
2414-26-2 This is reacted with
ethylene
Ethylene (IUPAC name: ethene) is a hydrocarbon which has the formula or . It is a colourless, flammable gas with a faint "sweet and musky" odour when pure. It is the simplest alkene (a hydrocarbon with carbon-carbon double bonds).
Ethylene i ...
in the presence of
aluminum trichloride
Aluminium chloride, also known as aluminium trichloride, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It forms hexahydrate with the formula , containing six water molecules of hydration. Both are colourless crystals, but samples are often conta ...
catalyst to give 1-methyl-2-tetralone
6405-14-9(1). Base catalyzed alkylation of this with 1-(2-chloroethyl)piperidine
932-03-2(2) gives ''Nepinalone'' (3).
References
Antitussives
1-Piperidinyl compounds
Ketones
Tetralins
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