Triptans

Chemistry

Triptans are either tryptamines or closely related compounds. Most triptans are simple tryptamines. These include sumatriptan, rizatriptan, donitriptan, almotriptan, zolmitriptan, and L-694247. Certain triptans, including eletriptan, frovatriptan, and LY-344864, are cyclized tryptamines. Other triptans, including naratriptan, LY-334370, and avitriptan, are not technically tryptamines, although they are still closely related to tryptamines. Naratriptan and LY-334370 are piperidinylindoles rather than tryptamines, while avitriptan features a cyclizedpropylamineside chain instead of the ethylamine side chain present in tryptamines. A number of triptans, including sumatriptan, rizatriptan, eletriptan, almotriptan, zolmitriptan, contain the psychedelic drugdimethyltryptamine (DMT) within their chemical structures and hence are derivatives of DMT. Triptans may be thought of as syntheticanalogues of the monoamine neurotransmitterserotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT). Another triptan-like drug is IS-159.