CONTENTS Introduction How it’s used & Side Effects Synthesis Related Molecules Links

INTRODUCTION Cocaine is a white, crystalline powder, which was first isolated in 1855. Once widely used as a mild anaesthetic, these days it is used as a recreational drug to give its user feelings of exhilaration and euphoria. Cocaine can be isolated from a species of coca (left), by drying its leaves. Coca shrubs are native to South America and Erythroxylum coca is the species from which cocaine can be extracted. The drug is an alkaloid and can be produced via organic synthesis from simple starting materials.