MNCOAS

     

Morphine, Nicotine, and Caffeine

     The opium poppy consists of 24 alkaloids, the most prominent being morphine. Morphine was isolated for the first time by Friedrich Serturner in 1803. Named after the Roman god Morpheus, the god of dreams, it numbs the senses and induces sleep. The structure of morphine was not known until 1925, but morphine and similar compounds are the most effective painkillers known today. However, the painkilling or analgesic effect is related to addiction, making these compounds very addictive. In 1898, Bayer and Company put morphine through the acylation reaction, with hopes that it would have the same results as aspirin. This diacetylmorphine was marketed as Heroin, and it is "one of the most powerfully addictive substances known". Bayer thought that this heroin was free from the side affects and addictive properties of morphine, and it was marketed as a "super aspirin". However, once they realized the side affects, the company stopped advertising the product. Rather than interfering with nerve signals, morphine blocks the pain receptors in the brain, mimicking the action of endorphins.

     Tobacco contains at least ten alkaloids, but the main one is nicotine. Nicotine stimulates the heart and central nervous system at first, then eventually becomes a depressant. The nicotine molecule heightens transmission of neurological impulses by forming a bridge at the connection of two nerve cells. However, this transmission site will eventually become obstructed, and the stimulating effects of the nicotine will cease. Nicotine can also be deadly when taken in larger doses, and it is more potent when absorbed than ingested because the stomach acids break some of it down. When smoking, the nicotine is oxidized into less toxic forms from being burned at high temperatures. Nicotine is a natural insecticide, but nicotinic acid is an essential B vitamin. The name nicotinic acid was later changed to niacin because bakers did not want their bread to be commercialized under a name similar to nicotine.

Structure of Caffeine

     Caffeine stimulates the central nervous system and is one of the most studied drugs worldwide. It is naturally found in coffee beans, tea leaves, and other plants, typically from South America. Caffeine blocks adenosine's effect in the body, especially in the brain. Caffeine does not actually wake people up, it just prevents adenosine from inducing sleep. When caffeine takes up the adenosine receptors in the body, a caffeine buzz is experienced: increased heart rate occurs, some blood vessels constrict, and some muscles are more easily contracted. Caffeine can be fatal at a dose of ten grams. It is an addictive substance, and withdrawal symptoms include headache, drowsiness, fatigue, nausea and vomiting. Chocolate contains anandamide, which binds to the same receptor as THC. Chocolate was Europe's first encounter with caffeine.

Oleic Acid

     Olea europaea (the olive tree) is the only species of the Olea family that is grown for its fruit, and has been cultivated for anywhere between five and seven thousand years. Oils have been obtained from many plants, and they have been valuable for food, medicine, lighting, and cosmetic purposes. They are liquid at room temperature and have more unsaturated fatty acids than saturated ones. Oleic acid is the main fatty acid in olive oil- with eighteen carbons, it is monounsaturated. Olive oil's low proportion of polyunsaturated fatty acids gives it a longer shelf life than almost any other oil. It also contains vitamins E and K, antioxidants that aid in preservation.

     Soap was most likely an accidental discovery, when people cooking over wood fires noticed the fats and oils that dripped from food to the ashes created a substance that made a foamy lather in water. Saponification is the reaction that occurs when triglycerides react with alkalis- this is where the name soap comes from. Soap was mainly used for washing clothes, while personal hygiene included rubbing the body with a mix of olive oil and sand, then scraping it off. England began the commercial production of soap in the 14th century. By the end of the 18th century, Nicolas Leblanc designed a method to create soda ash from common salt. Soap molecules have one end with a charge that is soluble in water, and another end that is soluble in fat, oils and grease.

Salt

     The main methods to produce salt are by evaporating sea water, mining rock salt, and boiling salt solutions from brine springs. In 1887, Svante August Arrhenius proposed that oppositely charged ions were responsible for the properties and structure of salts and salt solutions. He demonstrated that the more salt is dissolved into solution, the more concentrated the ions need to be to carry electric current. Arrhenius won the 1903 Nobel Prize for his electrolytic dissociation theory. Sodium chloride's solubility makes salt a good preservative because it removes the water from a product, creating a harder environment for bacterial growth. More salt was used for preservative measures than to enhance flavor of foods.
     The ions from salt have a major role in balancing the electrolytes between the cells and the surrounding fluid in the body. The average human body contains four ounces of salt, but that salt is constantly lost through urine or perspiration. The salt must be replaced, and excess salt must be excreted. It is not good to have either too much or not enough salt. Taxes were imposed on salt since ancient times, and in 1825 the United Kingdom became the first to repeal the tax. The taxes were removed, not because of the resentment they had aroused among the working class, but because salt became a very important starting material during the Industrial Revolution. In 1791, Nicolas Leblanc created a method to form sodium carbonate from sulfuric acid, coal, salt, and limestone. In the 1860s, Belgium brothers Ernest and Alfred Solvay designed an improved process to turn sodium chloride into sodium carbonate by using ammonia gas and limestone. This process is still used for synthetic soda ash production today. Caustic soda (sodium hydroxide) can be produced through electrolysis- passing an electrical current through a sodium chloride solution.