Ephedrine Hydrochloride Crystal Structure

EPHEDRINE HYDROCHLORIDE The crystal chosen for this report is Ephedrine Hydrochloride. In this report, the crystal structure, unit cell, it uses and the synthesizing of the crystal will be discussed. Ephedrine is a chemical that is extracted from the Chinese plant Ephedra. Ephedra was said to be discovered by a Chinese emperor named Shen Lung. This discovery was established in 2700BC. In that era of time, technology was not yet established therefore, medication was made by hand and that includes Ephedrine which was eaten or utilised straight from the plant Ephedra which is called ‘Ma Huang’ in Chinese. Even to this day, it is used in herbal medicine in Asia.1

Apart from it being used in Asia, Western medicine has also taken an interest in the plant. In order to obtain the crystals that are now recognised in Western medicine, a Japanese man named Nagai isolated the ephedrine alkaloid and thus he named the naturally occurring chemical, Ephedrine.2 Instead of taking the

Figure 2: Chemical structure of Ephedrine Hydrochloride.

References
1.Gaddum, J. Ephedrine. British Medical Journal 1, 713 (1938).
2.Bergin, R. Refinement of the structure of (-)-ephedrine hydrochloride. Acta Crystallographica Section B: Structural Crystallography and Crystal Chemistry 27, 381--386 (1971).
3.Chen, K. & Schmidt, C. The action of ephedrine, an alkaloid from Ma Huang. Experimental Biology and Medicine 21, 351-354 (1924).
4.R, P. et al. Does ephedrine promote weight loss in low-energy-adapted obese women?. International journal of obesity 11, 163-168 (1986).
5.Ramey, J., Bailen, E. & Lockey, R. Rhinitis Medicamentosa. (2006).
6.Phillips, D. The crystal and molecular structures of ephedrine hydrochloride. Acta Crystallographica 7, 159-165 (1954).
7.Manske, R. Patent US1867274 - Resolution of ephedrine and its homologues and of mandelic acid, and certain intermediates. Google Books (2014). at