Author: Tarun Gupta
Introduction:
Codeine or methylmorphine is an opiate used for its analgesic, antitussive and antidiarrheal properties. It is marketed as the salts codeine sulfate and codeine phosphate. Codeine hydrochloride is more commonly marketed in continental Europe and other regions.
Codeine is an alkaloid found in opium in concentrations ranging from 0.3 to 3.0 percent. While codeine can be extracted from opium, most codeine is synthesized from morphine through the process of O-methylation. The chemical name of codeine phosphate is 7,8-Didehydro-4,5alpha-epoxy-3-methoxy-17-methyl morphinan-6alpha-ol phosphate (1:1) (salt) hemi-hydrate.
