This is all about morphine, its working principle, its therapeutic uses, side effects and associated risks.

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By ANUM RAFI

2. CONTENTS:
 Definition
 History
 Physical and chemical properties
 Derivatives of morphine
 How does morphine work?
 Uses
 Side effects
 Associated Risks
 Case of morphine poisoning
 Reference 2

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DEFINITION
• Morphine is a highly potent
opiate (narcotic) analgesic
that is used to treat moderate
to moderately severe chronic
pain.
• Morphine is said to be the
most powerful pain reliever
medicine has to offer today
and sets the standard by
which all other opiate potency
is tested.
• The potential for morphine

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• Like other opioids, e.g. Diamorphine (heroin),
morphine acts directly on the central nervous system
(CNS) to relieve pain, and at synapses of the nucleus
accumbens in particular.
• Morphine is highly addictive when compared to other
substances, and tolerance and physical and
psychological dependences develop very rapidly.
DEFINITION

5. HISTORY OF MORPHINE
• Morphine was discovered by Freidrich Wilhelm Adam
Serturner (1783-1841), an obscure, uneducated, 21-
year-old pharmacist’s assistant with little equipment
but loads of curiosity.
• Serturner wondered about the medicinal properties of
opium*,
which was widely used by 18th-century physicians. In a
series of
experiments, performed in his spare time and
published in 1806,
he managed to isolate an organic alkaloid compound
from the
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*Opium: A dark brown, resinous material obtained from
poppy (Papaver somniferum) capsules.

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HISTORY OF MORPHINE
• Serturner found that
opium with the alkaloid
removed had no effect
on animals, but the
alkaloid itself had 10
times the power of
processed opium. He
named that substance
morphine, after
Morpheus, the Greek
god of dreams, for its

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• He spent several years experimenting with morphine, often on
himself, learning its therapeutic effects as well as its
considerable dangers.
• Although his work was initially ignored, he recognized its
significance, and as he predicted, chemists and physicians soon
grew interested in his discoveries.
• Serturner’s crystallization of morphine was the first isolation of
a natural plant alkaloid.
• It sparked the study of alkaloid chemistry and hastened the
emergence of the modern pharmaceutical industry.
HISTORY OF MORPHINE

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HISTORY OF MORPHINE
• Barely, eighteen years after morphine
was discovered, it was used for homicide.
• In 1823, a 27 year old French doctor,
Edme Castaing, mixed morphine in the
wine given to his friend, Auguste Ballet,
to kill him.

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PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
• Solid
• White, crystalline alkaloid
• Odorless
• Bitter
• Boiling point: 190ºC
• Melting point: 255ºC
• Insoluble in water

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• Solubility: When exposed to air, morphine sulfate gradually loses
its water of hydration. The drug darkens on prolonged exposure to
• Decomposition: When heated to decomposition it emits toxic fumes
of nitrogen oxide.
• pH: pH of saturated solution is 8.5
• Spectral Properties:
UV maximum in acid: 285 nm; in alkali: 298 nm
Intense mass spectral peaks: 124 m/z, 162 m/z, 268 m/z, 285 m/z
Mass Infrared

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DERIVATIVES OF MORPHINE
• Morphine is isolated from opium in large quantities (over
1000 tons per year), although most commercial opium is
converted into codeine by methylation.
Morphine, by replacing the -OH group
red with -OCH3 produces Codeine.
the both the red and blue -OH groups with
OCOCH3 produces Heroin.

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Codeine: The methoxy
addition is shown in red.
Heroin: The -
OCOCH3 groups that
replaced the -OH groups in
morphine are shown in
DERIVATIVES OF MORPHINE

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HOW DOES MORPHINE WORK?
• Morphine acts as an anesthetic without
decreasing consciousness, and it is one of the
most powerful analgesics known. However it
also suppresses the respiratory system, and
high doses can cause death by respiratory
failure.
• Its analgesic properties are related to the
ability of the molecule to fit into and block a
specific receptor site on a nerve cell.
• This eliminates the action of the pain

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HOW DOES MORPHINE WORK?
• This is similar to the way in which the body's natural
painkillers (endorphins and enkaphalins) work.
• The shape of the morphine molecule is crucial to its
ability to exactly fit into the active site on the receptor
- the 'lock-and-key' mechanism.
• The benzene group of the morphine molecule fits snugly
against a flat section of the receptor protein, whilst the
bent neighbouring group of carbon atoms fits into a
nearby groove.
• This allows the positively charged nitrogen atom to
attach to a negatively-charged group on the receptor, so
locking the two molecules together.

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• Morphine is a powerful pain
reliever used for both acute
and chronic pain. It is also used,
much less frequently, as a cough
suppressant, for difficulty
breathing and to stop diarrhea.
• It is used to treat pain caused by
a variety of diseases, illnesses
and injuries.
USES OF MORPHINE

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USES OF MORPHINE
Analgesic:
• Long bone fracture
• Terminal stages of cancer
• Burn patients
• Postoperative patients
• Obstetric analgesia
• Segmental analgesia

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Common side effects of
morphine include:
• Constipation: After surgery, it is
important to prevent
constipation, which can
become a major complication.
• Decreased coughing
• Loss of appetite
• Sleepiness
• Dizziness
SIDE EFFECTS

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Every drug has risks, and morphine is no
exception. Risks are increased with higher
doses, long-term use and especially
inappropriate use without a prescription.
• Depressed breathing (breathing too slowly
or too shallowly, including respiratory failure
and death)
• Headache
• Confusion
• Memory problems
• Severe constipation
• Anxiety
• Memory problems
• Sleep disturbances
• Tolerance
ASSOCIATED RISKS

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CASE OF MORPHINE POISONING
• He was an Austrian
neurologist, who is the
founder of the
psychoanalysis.
• He was a physiologist,
medical doctor, psychologist.
Do you know who’s he?

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DO YOU KNOW HOW HE DIED?
• In September 1939, Freud who
was suffering from cancer and
in severe pain, persuaded his
doctor and friend Max Schur to
help him commit suicide.
• Later, on 21 and 22 September,
administered large doses of
morphine that resulted in
Freud’s death on 23rd September
1939.

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REFERENCES
• https://talbottcampus.com/history-of-morphine/
• https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/morphine
#section=Spectral-Properties
• https://www.ch.ic.ac.uk/rzepa/mim/drugs/html/morph
ine_text.htm
• https://www.verywellhealth.com/morphine-sulfate-
drug-information-3156914
• https://www.slideshare.net/shrinathraman/morphine-
22202338

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