What molecule am I?
Gabapentin is a nonprotein amino acid and a synthetic neurotransmitter that is related to γ-aminobutyric acid1 (GABA). It was first described in 1976 West German patent DE2460891 on cyclic amino acids to Gerhard Satzinger and co-inventors at Goedecke AG (Freiburg). The corresponding US Patent is 4,024,175 (1977).
Gabapentin crosses the blood–brain barrier more easily than GABA. In the early patents, the Goedecke researchers noted that the compound is a sedative; and in mice, it prevented seizures triggered by a GABA antagonist. Preliminary clinical trials in the 1980s indicated that gabapentin appeared to be effective against spasticity and migraines.
Under the trade name Neurontin, gabapentin was approved in 1993 in the United Kingdom for treating refractive epilepsy and by the US Food and Drug Administration as an adjuvant medication for partial seizures. Since then, its uses have steadily increased to treat conditions such as neuropathic pain, anxiety, sleep disorders, and drug dependence.
In a 2024 article in The New York Times, writer Paula Span quoted Michael Steinman, a geriatrician at the University of California, San Francisco, as saying this about gabapentin: —especially among seniors. The interviewed patients were taking the drug off-label to treat the pain and fatigue of fibromyalgia, foot and leg pain from transverse myelitis, rheumatoid arthritis, agitation from dementia, and a host of other disorders.
1. CAS Reg. No. 56-12-2.
Gabapentin hazard information*
| Hazard class** | GHS code and hazard statement | |
|---|---|---|
| Skin corrosion/irritation, category 2 | H315—Causes skin irritation |  |
| Serious eye damage/eye irritation, category 2A | H319—Causes serious eye irritation | |
| Specific target organ toxicity, single exposure, respiratory tract irritation, category 3 | H335—May cause respiratory irritation | |
| Specific target organ toxicity, single exposure, narcotic effects, category 3 | H336—May cause drowsiness or dizziness | |
| Reproductive toxicity, category 1B | H360—May damage fertility or the unborn child |  |
| Short-term (acute) aquatic hazard, category 1 | H400—Very toxic to aquatic life |  |
| Long-term (chronic) aquatic hazard, category 1 | H410—Very toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects | |
*Compilation of multiple safety data sheets.
**Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. .
Molecules from the Journals
Europium(II) chloride1 (EuCl2) is a salt of the lanthanide (“rare earth�) element europium. In 1935, Karl Przibram at the Institute for Radium Research (Vienna) showed that blue fluorescence from the mineral fluorite2 (CaF2) is caused by . The compound is synthesized via the reduction of europium(III) chloride3 with hydrogen or lithium borohydride.
This past December, Fengxia Hu, Jing Wang, Baogen Shen, and collaborators at multiple Chinese institutions reported that the orthorhombic crystalline form of EuCl2 could be the key to a . The researchers found that the exceptionally large magnetocaloric effect of EuCl2 drives a process called adiabatic demagnetization refrigeration, which can achieve sub-kelvin cryogenic temperatures as low as �346 mK.
Indium phosphide4 (InP) is a binary crystalline compound and a semiconductor. It was first described in 1910 by Alfred Thiel* and H. Koelsch at the University of Münster (Germany) in a treatise called “�. The chemists prepared InP by heating indium(I) iodide5 in the presence of phosphorus vapor.
InP nanocrystals (NCs) are in high demand because their luminosity is useful in displays and bioimaging. In January, Fei Huang, Jianjun Tian, and co-workers at the University of Science and Technology Beijing reported a . They decomposed ammonium hypophosphite6 [(NH4)H2PO2] to generate gaseous phosphine7 (PH3), which reacts with an indium carboxylate8 to form InP clusters. They then used the clusters to grow high-quality NCs with uniform size distribution.
1. CAS Reg. No. 13769-20-5.
2. CAS Reg. No. 14542-23-5.
3. CAS Reg. No. 10025-76-0.
4. CAS Reg. No. 22398-80-7.
5. CAS Reg. No. 13966-94-4.
6. CAS Reg. No. 7803-65-8.
7. CAS Reg. No. 7803-51-2.
8. e.g., indium oleate.
Molecules from the Journals
MOTW briefly describes noteworthy molecules that appeared in recent ACS journal articles. See this week's edition.
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Gabapentin fast facts
| CAS Reg. No. | 60142-96-3 |
| SciFindern name | Cyclohexaneacetic acid, 1-(aminomethyl)- |
| Empirical formula | C9H17NO2 |
| Molar mass | 171.24Ìý²µ/³¾´Ç±ô |
| Appearance | White to off-white crystalline solid |
| Melting point | 165�167 ºC |
| Water solubility | 4.5 g/L (25 ºC) |
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