Abstract
The analgesic activity of A9-THC was enhanced considerably by removing unsaturation at C9 and replacing 9-methyl with 9ß-hydroxy to obtain HHC. This finding prompted an extensive discovery program from 1975 to 1980 to synthesize novel and potent nonopiate analgesic agents. One such compound, levonantradol, entered clinical trials and showed analgesic effects in postoperative pain and antiemetic effects in cancer patients on chemotherapy. The synthetic program also afforded the bicyclic compounds, (-)-CP-55,940 and (-)-CP-55,244, that both have nontraditional cannabinoid structures yet exert potent analgesic activity. These bicyclics played important roles in the advances achieved in cannabinoid pharmacology, such as characterization of the brain cannabinoid receptor (CB1) and the cloning of rat and human CB1 receptors.
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Koe, B.K. (1999). Levonantradol. In: Nahas, G.G., Sutin, K.M., Harvey, D., Agurell, S., Pace, N., Cancro, R. (eds) Marihuana and Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-710-9_53
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-710-9_53
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