Enzyme‐assisted synthesis of the glucuronide conjugate of psilocin, an hallucinogenic component of magic mushrooms
Drug Testing and Analysis – February 02, 2011
Source: OpenAlex
Summary
A breakthrough in Psychedelics and Drug Studies involves the chemical synthesis of psilocin glucuronide, a key metabolite found in urine after magic mushroom use. Using an enzyme from pretreated rat liver microsomes, psilocin was converted to this glucuronide conjugate. This biochemical process, crucial for drug metabolism, yielded 3.6 mg (19%) of the metabolite. Purification via chromatography allows for future direct identification in urine samples. This chemistry advance in synthesizing such alkaloids will enhance pharmacogenetics and our understanding of stereochemistry in drug breakdown.
Abstract
An enzyme‐assisted synthesis of psilocin glucuronide (PCG), a metabolite excreted in the urine of magic mushroom (MM) users, is described. In the presence of Aroclor 1254 pretreated rat liver microsomes, psilocin and the cofactor UDPGA were incubated for 20 h. Purification by HPLC gave PCG in 19% yield (3.6 mg). The compound structure was characterized by MS and NMR. The milligram amounts of PCG produced by this method will allow the direct identification and quantification of PCG in the urine of MM users. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.