Isocodeine is an

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 opioi ...

research chemical Research chemicals are chemical substances used by scientists for medical and scientific research purposes. One characteristic of a research chemical is that it is for laboratory research use only; a research chemical is not intended for human o ...

related to

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 ...

. It is an

epimer In stereochemistry, an epimer is one of a pair of diastereomers. The two epimers have opposite configuration at only one stereogenic center out of at least two. All other stereogenic centers in the molecules are the same in each. Epimerization is ...

of codeine that can be prepared from codeine via a

Mitsunobu reaction The Mitsunobu reaction is an organic reaction that converts an alcohol into a variety of functional groups, such as an ester, using triphenylphosphine and an azodicarboxylate such as diethyl azodicarboxylate (DEAD) or diisopropyl azodicarboxylat ...

. Dozens of

derivatives The derivative of a function is the rate of change of the function's output relative to its input value. Derivative may also refer to: In mathematics and economics *Brzozowski derivative in the theory of formal languages *Formal derivative, an ...

and

analogs Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

of isocodeine and the related compound isomorphine have been produced. One of these,

dihydroisocodeine Dihydroisocodeine is an opioid. The National Research Council of the United States reported in 1941 that isocodeine is one of four isomers of codeine Codeine is an opiate and prodrug of morphine mainly used to treat pain, coughing, and di ...

is a pharmaceutical four times stronger than dihydrocodeine and thus six times stronger than codeine which was used more extensively in the past in Continental Europe and other locales. Other isomers of codeine include allocodeine, pseudocodeine, heterocodeine and substances with intermediate qualities such as pseudoallocodeine and formylallocodeine can be prepared in the laboratory.Report of the Committee On Drug Addiction 1929-1941 with Monographs, 1941, National Research Council (US) Washington DC, 1116 pages (Chapter 7)

References

Opioids {{analgesic-stub