How many chiral centers are in morphine?

1 Answer
Ernest Z.
Jun 5, 2015

There are five chiral centres in morphine.

Explanation:

The systematic name of morphine is (1S,5R,13R,14S,17R)-4-methyl-12-oxa-4-azapentacyclo[9.6.1.0^(1,13).0^(5,17).0^(7,18)]octadeca-7(18),8,10,15-tetraene-10,14-diol.

Now you know why we just call it morphine!

Its structure is

www2.chemistry.msu.edu

The five atoms with the wedges and dashes are the chiral centres:

  • "C-5", the carbon joined to the epoxide
  • "C-6", the carbon attached to the "OH" group
  • "C-9", the carbon attached to "N"
  • "C-13", the carbon at the bridgehead of four different rings
  • "C-14", the carbon at the bridgehead of two rings
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