Fencamfamin
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Fencamfamin (
INN Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...
), also known as fencamfamine or by the brand names Glucoenergan and Reactivan, is a
stimulant Stimulants (also often referred to as psychostimulants or colloquially as uppers) is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the central nervous system and the body, drugs that are pleasurable and inv ...
which was developed by Merck in the 1960s.


Medical uses

Fencamfamin is still used, though rarely, for treating depressive day-time fatigue, lack of concentration and lethargy, particularly in individuals who have chronic medical conditions, as its favourable safety profile makes it the most suitable drug in some cases.


Adverse effects

Fencamfamin is well tolerated and causes minimal circulatory effects. Extended use may result in a dryness of the mouth.


Contraindications

Not to be used with heart diseases, angina pectoris and decompensated cardiac insufficiency, glaucoma, hyper-excitability and thyrotoxicosis or while treated with monoamine oxidase inhibitors.


Overdose

Symptoms of overdose are nausea, agitation and restlessness, dryness of the mouth, dizziness and tremor. In gross overdosage also associated with dyspnoea, tachycardia, disorientation and convulsions.


Research

In a study on slices of rat corpus striatum and substantia nigra fencamfamin acted as an indirect
dopamine agonist A dopamine agonist (DA) is a compound that activates dopamine receptors. There are two families of dopamine receptors, D2-like and D1-like, and they are all G protein-coupled receptors. D1- and D5-receptors belong to the D1-like family and the ...
. It released
dopamine Dopamine (DA, a contraction of 3,4-dihydroxyphenethylamine) is a neuromodulatory molecule that plays several important roles in cells. It is an organic compound, organic chemical of the catecholamine and phenethylamine families. Dopamine const ...
by a similar mechanism to amphetamines, but was ten times less potent than dexamphetamine at producing this effect. The main mechanism of action was instead inhibition of dopamine
reuptake Reuptake is the reabsorption of a neurotransmitter by a neurotransmitter transporter located along the plasma membrane of an axon terminal (i.e., the pre-synaptic neuron at a synapse) or glial cell after it has performed its function of transm ...
. Also unlike
amphetamine Amphetamine (contracted from alpha- methylphenethylamine) is a strong central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), narcolepsy, and obesity. It is also commonly used ...
s, fencamfamin does not inhibit the action of
monoamine oxidase Monoamine oxidases (MAO) () are a family of enzymes that catalyze the oxidation of monoamines, employing oxygen to clip off their amine group. They are found bound to the outer membrane of mitochondria in most cell types of the body. The first ...
enzymes. It was concluded that, at least in the models employed, the in vitro profile of fencamfamin is more similar to that of
nomifensine Nomifensine (Merital, Alival) is a norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitor, i.e. a drug that increases the amount of synaptic norepinephrine and dopamine available to receptors by blocking the dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake transporters ...
, a reportedly pure uptake inhibitor, than to d-amphetamine. In animal experiments on place preference fencamfamin produced a significant place preference only at the dose of 3.5 mg/kg. The experiments suggested a relation to dopamine D1 receptors, and also to
opioid Opioids are substances that act on opioid receptors to produce morphine-like effects. Medically they are primarily used for pain relief, including anesthesia. Other medical uses include suppression of diarrhea, replacement therapy for opioid us ...
receptors in the reinforcement produced by fencamfamin, as place preference was blocked by the selective dopamine D1 antagonist SCH 23390 and by the opioid antagonist
naloxone Naloxone, sold under the brand names Narcan (4 mg) and Kloxxado (8 mg) among others, is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. It is commonly used to counter decreased breathing in opioid overdose. Effects begin within ...
. A similar place preference, which was blocked by
naloxone Naloxone, sold under the brand names Narcan (4 mg) and Kloxxado (8 mg) among others, is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. It is commonly used to counter decreased breathing in opioid overdose. Effects begin within ...
and by SCH 23390 and by
raclopride Raclopride is a typical antipsychotic. It acts as a selective antagonist on D2 dopamine receptors. It has been used in trials studying Parkinson Disease. Its selectivity to the cerebral D2 receptors is characterized by its respective Ki-valu ...
, has been seen in a study on rats with drinking water. Animals treated with naloxone before the conditioning sessions showed a place aversion instead of the place preference found in saline-treated animals. Naloxone also reduced drinking. It was proposed that naloxone induced a state of frustrative nonreward. It was suggested that both dopamine and (endogenous) opioids are important for water-induced reinforcement. Possible interactions between these two neurotransmitter systems were discussed.


Synthesis

Fencamfamin may be synthesized in a straightforward fashion via the Diels-Alder reaction between
cyclopentadiene Cyclopentadiene is an organic compound with the chemical formula, formula C5H6.LeRoy H. Scharpen and Victor W. Laurie (1965): "Structure of cyclopentadiene". ''The Journal of Chemical Physics'', volume 43, issue 8, pages 2765-2766. It is often ab ...
and β-nitrostyrene (1-nitro-2-phenyl-ethene). The C=C double bond and the nitro-group in the resulting norcamphene derivative are then reduced to give the saturated norcamphane derivative. Finally, the amino-group is ethylated. Although β-nitrostyrene is commercially available, it is also very easily prepared using the
Henry Reaction The Henry reaction is a classic carbon–carbon bond formation reaction in organic chemistry. Discovered in 1895 by the Belgian chemist Louis Henry (1834–1913), it is the combination of a nitroalkane and an aldehyde or ketone in the presence o ...
between
benzaldehyde Benzaldehyde (C6H5CHO) is an organic compound consisting of a benzene ring with a formyl substituent. It is the simplest aromatic aldehyde and one of the most industrially useful. It is a colorless liquid with a characteristic almond-like odor. ...
and
nitromethane Nitromethane, sometimes shortened to simply "nitro", is an organic compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest organic nitro compound. It is a polar liquid commonly used as a solvent in a variety of industrial applications such as in ...
. The Diels-Alder reaction of β-nitrostyrene and cyclopentadiene is described in a number of early papers. The reduction of the
nitroalkene A nitroalkene, or nitro olefin, is a functional group combining the functionality of its constituent parts, an alkene and nitro group, while displaying its own chemical properties through alkene activation, making the functional group useful in spe ...
may be carried out sequentially. The
alkene In organic chemistry, an alkene is a hydrocarbon containing a carbon–carbon double bond. Alkene is often used as synonym of olefin, that is, any hydrocarbon containing one or more double bonds.H. Stephen Stoker (2015): General, Organic, an ...
's double bond is typically reduced using hydrogen and a
transition metal In chemistry, a transition metal (or transition element) is a chemical element in the d-block of the periodic table (groups 3 to 12), though the elements of group 12 (and less often group 3) are sometimes excluded. They are the elements that can ...
catalyst Catalysis () is the process of increasing the rate of a chemical reaction by adding a substance known as a catalyst (). Catalysts are not consumed in the reaction and remain unchanged after it. If the reaction is rapid and the catalyst recyc ...
like Ni or Pt, while the nitro group is reduced to the amine with a metal/acid combination, such as Fe/HCl. The reduction of both functional groups can also be achieved simultaneously by the use of Raney nickel, and this transformation has recently been optimized by Russian chemists. Originally achieved under
reductive amination Reductive amination (also known as reductive alkylation) is a form of amination that involves the conversion of a carbonyl group to an amine via an intermediate imine. The carbonyl group is most commonly a ketone or an aldehyde. It is considered ...
conditions involving the reaction of the amine with
acetaldehyde Acetaldehyde (IUPAC systematic name ethanal) is an organic chemical compound with the formula CH3 CHO, sometimes abbreviated by chemists as MeCHO (Me = methyl). It is a colorless liquid or gas, boiling near room temperature. It is one of the mos ...
in the presence of Pt, ethylation of the amino-group has been improved by the use of Ra-Ni and ethanol. The
stereochemical Stereochemistry, a subdiscipline of chemistry, involves the study of the relative spatial arrangement of atoms that form the structure of molecules and their manipulation. The study of stereochemistry focuses on the relationships between stereois ...
consequences of the steps involved in the reaction sequence outlined above have been studied. Thus, the Diels-Alder
cycloaddition In organic chemistry, a cycloaddition is a chemical reaction in which "two or more Unsaturated hydrocarbon, unsaturated molecules (or parts of the same molecule) combine with the formation of a cyclic adduct in which there is a net reduction of th ...
leads to a product in which the nitro- and phenyl- groups are in a trans- relationship to each other. This product is actually a mixture of
stereoisomers In stereochemistry, stereoisomerism, or spatial isomerism, is a form of isomerism in which molecules have the same molecular formula and sequence of bonded atoms (constitution), but differ in the three-dimensional orientations of their atoms in ...
, in which the pair of
enantiomers In chemistry, an enantiomer ( /ɪˈnænti.əmər, ɛ-, -oʊ-/ ''ih-NAN-tee-ə-mər''; from Ancient Greek ἐνάντιος ''(enántios)'' 'opposite', and μέρος ''(méros)'' 'part') – also called optical isomer, antipode, or optical anti ...
having the nitro- group in the endo- position and the phenyl- group in the exo- position predominates over the enantiomeric pair with exo-nitro and endo-phenyl groups. Although the isomeric composition of the Diels-Alder
adduct An adduct (from the Latin ''adductus'', "drawn toward" alternatively, a contraction of "addition product") is a product of a direct addition of two or more distinct molecules, resulting in a single reaction product containing all atoms of all co ...
itself does not seem to have been determined, Poos et al. reported a ratio of ~3:1 for the
saturated Saturation, saturated, unsaturation or unsaturated may refer to: Chemistry * Saturation, a property of organic compounds referring to carbon-carbon bonds ** Saturated and unsaturated compounds **Degree of unsaturation ** Saturated fat or fatty ac ...
un-ethylated amine derived from it. Novakov and co-workers, citing a thesis study, report that the corresponding ratio of endo-N-ethyl/exo-Φ : exo-N-ethyl/endo-Φ enantiomeric pairs is ~9:1 in fencamfamin itself.


See also

* Camfetamine


References

{{Monoamine reuptake inhibitors Stimulants Norepinephrine–dopamine reuptake inhibitors Norbornanes