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Synfacts 2006(1): 0006-0006  
DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-621659
Synthesis of Natural Products and Potential Drugs
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

Synthesis of (-)-Epibatidine

Contributor(s): Philip Kocienski, John Cooksey
T.-P. Loh*, C.-L. K. Lee
Nanyang Technical University, Singapore
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Publication History

Publication Date:
16 December 2005 (online)

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Significance

(-)-Epibatidine, an alkaloid isolated from the Ecuadorian dendrobatid poison frog Epipedobates tricolor, is a nonopiate analgesic 200 times more potent than morphine. The scarcity of (-)-Epibatidine (1 mg from 750 frogs) has hampered its biological evaluation. There are many syntheses of Epibatidine but few of them are practical. The present synthesis is short (12 steps, 12% overall yield) and scalable.