{"id":222,"date":"2020-04-07T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/?p=222"},"modified":"2020-04-22T21:35:11","modified_gmt":"2020-04-23T04:35:11","slug":"caamtech-synthesizes-two-new-crystalline-forms-of-norpsilocin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/caamtech-synthesizes-two-new-crystalline-forms-of-norpsilocin\/","title":{"rendered":"CaaMTech Synthesizes Two New Crystalline Forms of Norpsilocin"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

CaaMTech researchers have synthesized two new crystalline forms of the tryptamine norpsilocin. The research, a collaboration with researchers at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, was published in Acta Crystallographica under the title \u201cNorpsilocin: freebase and fumarate salt<\/a>.\u201d  This work represents the first crystallization and solid state structural characterization of norpsilocin and the first synthesis and characterization of a norpsilocin salt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Norpsilocin is a naturally occurring tryptamine compound in psychedelic \u201cmagic mushrooms.\u201d It was first identified in 2017 by researchers at the Hans-Kn\u00f6ll Institute in Jena, Germany. Norpsilocin is the active metabolite of baeocystin, another compound naturally present in psilocybin mushrooms.  Recent pharmacological studies have demonstrated that norpsilocin is \u201cas potent if not more efficacious compared to psilocin\u201d at human and mouse 5-HT2A<\/sub> receptors in vitro. Despite this activity, administering baeocystin\/norpsilion to laboratory animals did not invoke a head twitch response (\u201cHTR\u201d), which traditionally correlates with a \u201cpsychedelic\u201d experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no scientific consensus regarding the clinical pharmacology of baeocystin and norpsilocin, or their potential contribution to an \u201centourage effect\u201d in the consumption of psychedelic mushrooms. Scientific leaders in the field attribute this lack of understanding to a longstanding unmet need for pure forms of these compounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The therapeutic potential of baeocystin (and it\u2019s active metabolite, norpsilocin) is highly contested: Some experts contend that baeocystin and\/or norpsilocin are deadly toxins. Others believe that these compounds could provide therapeutic benefits (e.g., treating anxiety, depression, PTSD, or addiction) without inducing a psychedelic \u201ctrip.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow that we have access to analytically pure chemicals, we can test their properties in a meaningful way,\u201d explained Dr. Andrew Chadeayne, CaaMTech CEO and co-author on the paper. \u201cCaaMTech\u2019s work represents a step forward towards resolving the ongoing scientific debate about these compounds.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to facilitating research on norpsilocin, CaaMTech hopes that increasing access to pure norpsilocin will lead to a better understanding of the overall pharmacology of psychedelic \u201cmagic mushrooms.\u201d Until recently, the pharmacology of these mushrooms was attributed entirely to a single compound: psilocybin. But, recent evidence suggests that the other compounds may be important to the consumer experience.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s pretty clear that the minor components in magic mushrooms contribute to the overall experience,\u201d explains Dr. Chadeayne. \u201cDifferent magic mushrooms have different amounts of different compounds. And now we know that some of those compounds are highly active.  From a chemical standpoint, we\u2019re talking about different drugs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n
  1. The two compounds synthesized and characterized are as follows: 4-hydroxy-N-methyltryptamine as the freebase (formal name 3-[2-(methylamino)ethyl]-1H-indol-4-ol); and 4-hydroxy-N-methyltryptammonium fumarate (formal name bis{[2-(4-hydroxy-1H-indol-3-yl)ethyl]methylazanium} but-2-enedioate).<\/li>
  2. Psilocybin is converted into active psilocin by hydrolysis of the 4-phosphate group upon ingestion. Baeocystin undergoes an analogous chemical transformation to provide active norpsilocin.<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    \u201cCaaMTech\u2019s work represents a step forward towards resolving the ongoing scientific debate about these compounds.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/caam.tech\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}