Editing Alkaloid (section)

== History ==
[[File:Friedrich Wilhelm Adam Sertuerner.jpg|thumb|left|[[Friedrich Sertürner]], the German chemist who first isolated morphine from opium.]]
Alkaloid-containing plants have been used by humans since ancient times for therapeutic and recreational purposes. For example, medicinal plants have been known in [[Mesopotamia]] from about 2000 BC.<ref name="Aniszewski 182">[[#Aniszewski|Aniszewski]], p. 182</ref> The ''[[Odyssey]]'' of Homer referred to a gift given to Helen by the Egyptian queen, a drug bringing oblivion. It is believed that the gift was an opium-containing drug.<ref>[[#Hesse|Hesse]], p. 338</ref> A Chinese book on houseplants written in 1st–3rd centuries BC mentioned a medical use of [[Ephedra (medicine)|ephedra]] and [[opium poppies]].<ref>[[#Hesse|Hesse]], p. 304</ref> Also, [[coca]] leaves have been used by Indigenous South Americans since ancient times.<ref>[[#Hesse|Hesse]], p. 350</ref>

Extracts from plants containing toxic alkaloids, such as [[aconitine]] and [[tubocurarine]], were used since antiquity for poisoning arrows.<ref name="Aniszewski 182"/>

Studies of alkaloids began in the 19th century. In 1804, the German chemist [[Friedrich Sertürner]] isolated from opium a "soporific principle" ({{langx|la|principium somniferum|links=no}}), which he called "morphium", referring to [[Morpheus (mythology)|Morpheus]], the Greek god of dreams; in German and some other Central-European languages, this is still the name of the drug. The term "morphine", used in English and French, was given by the French physicist [[Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac]].

A significant contribution to the chemistry of alkaloids in the early years of its development was made by the French researchers [[Pierre Joseph Pelletier]] and [[Joseph Bienaimé Caventou]], who discovered [[quinine]] (1820) and [[strychnine]] (1818). Several other alkaloids were discovered around that time, including [[xanthine]] (1817), [[atropine]] (1819), [[caffeine]] (1820), [[coniine]] (1827), [[nicotine]] (1828), [[colchicine]] (1833), [[sparteine]] (1851), and [[cocaine]] (1860).<ref>[[#Hesse|Hesse]], pp. 313–316</ref> The development of the chemistry of alkaloids was accelerated by the emergence of [[spectroscopic]] and [[chromatographic]] methods in the 20th century, so that by 2008 more than 12,000 alkaloids had been identified.<ref>[[#Begley|Begley]], '' Natural Products in Plants''.</ref>

The first complete synthesis of an alkaloid was achieved in 1886 by the German chemist [[Albert Ladenburg]]. He produced [[coniine]] by reacting 2-methylpyridine with [[acetaldehyde]] and [[oxidation-reduction reaction|reducing]] the resulting 2-propenyl pyridine with sodium.<ref name="BSE: koniin">{{GSEn|063832|Кониин}}</ref><ref>[[#Hesse|Hesse]], p. 204</ref>

[[File:Bufotenin.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|160px|[[Bufotenin]], an alkaloid from some toads, contains an [[indole]] core, and is produced in living organisms from the amino acid [[tryptophan]].]]