Methylecgonidine (anhydromethylecgonine; anhydroecgonine methyl ester; AEME) is a chemical intermediate derived from ecgonine or cocaine.
Methylecgonidine is a pyrolysis product formed when crack cocaine is smoked, making this substance a useful biomarker to specifically test for use of crack cocaine, as opposed to powder cocaine which does not form methylecgonidine as a metabolite.[1] Methylecgonidine has a relatively short half-life of 18–21 minutes, after which it is metabolised to ecgonidine, meaning that the relative concentrations of the two compounds can be used to estimate how recently crack cocaine has been smoked. Methylecgonidine has been shown to be specifically more harmful to the body than other byproducts of cocaine; for example to the heart,[2] lungs[3] & liver.[4] The toxicity is due to a partial agonist effect at M1 and M3 muscarinic receptors, leading to DNA fragmentation and neuronal death by apoptosis.[5]
The scheme by Kline[9] is based on the reaction of 2,4,6-cycloheptatriene-7-carboxylic acid with methylamine. This is a modified version of U.S. patent 2,783,235 by Grundmann and Ottmann. In the accompanying patent U.S. patent 2,783,236 these same authors react their methylecgonidine with two equivalents of PhLi to form a tertiary alcohol by "hard" addition to the ester and not "soft" Michael addition. However, the product is only one tenth the potency of atropine. The methyl 2,4,6-cycloheptatriene-1-carboxylate can be made synthetically.[10][11]
Davies et al. synthesized (R/S)-methylecgonidine by a tandem cyclopropanation/Cope rearrangement.[13][14] Thus, reaction of methyldiazobutenoate (2) with 5 equiv of N-((2-(TMS)ethoxy)carbonyl)pyrrole (1) in the presence of rhodium(II) hexanoate/hexane gave the [3.2.1]-azabicyclic system (R/S)-8 in 62% yield. The unsubstituted double bond was selectively reduced using Wilkinson catalyst to provide N-protected anhydroecgonine methyl ester ((R/S)-4). Following deprotection of N8 nitrogen with TBAF and reductive methylation with formaldehyde and sodium cyanoborohydride, (R/S)-5 was obtained in overall good yield.
^Fandiño AS, Toennes SW, Kauert GF (December 2002). "Studies on hydrolytic and oxidative metabolic pathways of anhydroecgonine methyl ester (methylecgonidine) using microsomal preparations from rat organs". Chemical Research in Toxicology. 15 (12): 1543–8. doi:10.1021/tx0255828. PMID12482236.
^Basmadjian GP, Singh S, Sastrodjojo B, Smith BT, Avor KS, Chang F, et al. (November 1995). "Generation of polyclonal catalytic antibodies against cocaine using transition state analogs of cocaine conjugated to diphtheria toxoid". Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin. 43 (11): 1902–11. doi:10.1021/ja01502a049. PMID8575031.
^De Jong AW (1937). "Some properties of the ecgonines and their esters II. The structural formulae of the ecgonines and ecgonidine". Recueil des Travaux Chimiques des Pays-Bas. 56 (2): 186–97, 198–201. doi:10.1002/recl.19370560215.
^Matchett JR, Levine J (1941). "Isolation of Ecgonidine Methyl Ester from Coca Seeds 1". J. Am. Chem. Soc. 63 (9): 2444–2446. doi:10.1021/ja01854a038.
^Kline RH, Wright J, Fox KM, Eldefrawi ME (July 1990). "Synthesis of 3-arylecgonine analogues as inhibitors of cocaine binding and dopamine uptake". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 33 (7): 2024–7. doi:10.1021/jm00169a036. PMID2362282.
^Davies HM, Huby NJ (1992). "Enantioselective synthesis of tropanes by reaction of rhodium-stabilized vinylcarbenoids with pyrroles". Tetrahedron Letters. 33 (46): 6935–6938. doi:10.1016/S0040-4039(00)60899-7. ISSN0040-4039.
^Davies, H. M. L.; Saikali, E.; Young, W. B. (1991). "Synthesis of (.+-.)-ferruginine and (.+-.)-anhydroecgonine methyl-ester by a tandem cyclopropanation/Cope rearrangement". J. Org. Chem. 56 (19): 5696–5700. doi:10.1021/jo00019a044.
^Davies HM, Young WB, Smith HD (January 1989). "Novel entry to the tropane system by reaction of rhodium (II) acetate stabilized vinylcarbenoids with pyrroles". Tetrahedron Letters. 30 (35): 4653–6. doi:10.1016/S0040-4039(01)80766-8.