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[-] Methylman@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

I came here to talk about methyl groups and no one gives them a mention :(

[-] BarrelAgedBoredom@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

I'm not a chemist but I like drugs. What's up with methyl groups?

[-] Stilicho@lemmy.world 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

A methyl group is the name given to single carbon (with 3 hydrogens attached) when substituted onto a larger chemical moiety (a structure or motif in chemistry). When people speak about methyl groups they're mostly speaking about those single carbon methyl group being attached to a heteroatom (atoms other than carbon and hydrogen in organic chemistry, like nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, etc.).

Methamphetamine (N-methylamphetamine or N-methyl alpha-methyl-phenyl-ethylamine in full form) has a methyl group on it's amine (nitrogen or N-position), which drastically alters its psychological effects and the way it's synthesized by chemists (requiring methylamine). The methyl group there prolonges the stimulating effects, while also providing serotonergic effects (generally euphoric effects caused by interaction with the serotonin receptor transport protein), which gives it much greater addiction potential.

Methyl groups in general don't "make drugs stronger" like the other guy said. To consider drug receptor interaction you need to take into account how well a molecule fits into the receptor you're targetting as a whole.

[-] Eheran@lemmy.fmhy.ml 2 points 1 year ago

Moiety? Motif? Never heard of these things in this context. Why not just compound or structure? Good post otherwise.

[-] Stilicho@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'm not referring to the compound or structure as a whole with this. Calling anything a moiety is just a way of singling out one specific part of a molecule, without it having to be a specific functional group in chemistry (like amines, alcohols, methoxy groups, halides, ketones, etc.). It's sometimes also called a motif in the same way that repeating paterns in art can be a motif.

You're right that I probably put that in a confusing way. What I meant is that methyl groups are mostly used in the context of methoxy groups and secondary (like methamphetamine) and tertiary amines/imines and ethers, but sometimes also with a carbon - carbon bond, which isn't really the same thing.

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this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
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