desmethylprodine

Desmethylprodine is a synthetic opioid analgesic, structurally related to meperidine (pethidine), and was originally developed in the 1940s by researchers at Hoffmann-La Roche. It acts as an agonist at the mu-opioid receptor (MOR), producing potent analgesic effects—reported to be approximately equal to or greater than morphine in animal models. Desmethylprodine is classified as a Schedule I controlled substance in the United States and has no accepted medical use; it is primarily known as a designer drug synthesized for recreational purposes. Its illicit synthesis can result in contamination with MPTP, a neurotoxic impurity that causes irreversible parkinsonism by destroying dopaminergic neurons via mitochondrial complex I inhibition[1][2][3][5].

Other names

desmethylprodine3-desmethylprodine1-methyl-4-phenyl-4-propionoxypiperidine4-propionyloxy-4-phenyl-N-methylpiperidine