Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: Studies on cannabinoids that predate the identification of ∆9-THC as the intoxicating constituents of recreational cannabis by Raphael Mechoulam in 1964 are reviewed, critically analyzing the controversies andfaux pasthat have characterized the early research in this area. Significant contributions to the elucidation of the signature molecular scaffold of cannabinoids were provided by some of the finest organic chemists of their generation, like Roger Adams and the Nobel laureate Alexander Todd, and important studies of preeminent scientists like Robert Sidney Cahn and František Šantavý also deserve mentioning. The results of these studies include the structure elucidation of cannabinol (2a), and the preliminary structure elucidation of cannabidiol (CBD,3a) and various semi-synthetic tetrahydrocannabinols (THCs). A comparative analysis of the contributions to the area by Adams and Todd highlights the transition between two generations of organic chemists, and the profound influence that the development of chromatographic methods of purification and of spectroscopic techniques of structure elucidation have played on the development of organic chemistry.
Source: RENDICONTI LINCEI
Author: Giovanni Appendino
Language: English
Subfield: Pharmacology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,260
OpenAlex ID: W3092137134