Minnesota wild hemp: a crucial botanical source in early cannabinoid discovery
- PDF / 543,795 Bytes
- 5 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 77 Downloads / 178 Views
Filer Journal of Cannabis Research (2020) 2:25 https://doi.org/10.1186/s42238-020-00031-3
REVIEW
Open Access
Minnesota wild hemp: a crucial botanical source in early cannabinoid discovery Crist N. Filer1,2
Abstract Renewed and sustained Cannabis chemistry exploration was initiated by Roger Adams at the University of Illinois Chemistry Department with cooperation from the Treasury Department Narcotics Laboratory in the early 1940’s. This partnership and time investment by both parties made practical sense. Adams was able to explore natural products chemistry and the Narcotics Laboratory began to clarify the chemistry mysteries of Cannabis. Minnesota wild hemp, often viewed as just a roadside weed, was employed as the critical botanical source. Based on its widespread cultivation during World War II, this was also a very pragmatic decision. Although the unique Illinois – Washington D. C. collaboration lasted only a few short years (1939–1942), the stunning results included the isolation and extensive characterization of cannabidiol, the structure elucidation and total synthesis of cannabinol as well as the identification of the tetrahydrocannabinol structure as an intoxicating pharmacophore. Furthermore, this research well prepared many junior chemists for prolific careers in both academia as well as industry, inspired the discoveries of later Cannabis investigators and also provided a successful model of a productive academic-government partnership. Keywords: Cannabinoid, Federal Bureau of Narcotics, Minnesota wild hemp, Roger Adams, University of Illinois
Background Human cultivation of the genus Cannabis and exploitation of its useful materials easily dates back several thousand years (Russo 2007). Despite this long common history, it is only in the last 80 years that significant progress been made in understanding the fascinating details of Cannabis chemistry. Cannabis is the source of hundreds of varied natural products and it is reported that 177 of these are the polyketide-terpene hybrids known collectively as cannabinoids (Hanus et al. 2016). Natural product isolation and characterization is an especially challenging process involving human creativity along with available resources. Further complicating progress in Cannabis science by the mid-twentieth century was that the attitude in the United States toward Cannabis was quickly changing. Once viewed in the late nineteenth century as a fashionable panacea, by the early 1940’s Cannabis was under increased scrutiny and near prohibition Correspondence: [email protected] 1 PerkinElmer Health Sciences Inc., 940 Winter Street, Waltham, MA 02451, USA 2 549 Albany St., Boston, MA 02118, USA
(Bridgeman and Abazia 2017). It would take a strong and disciplined personality to navigate these changing regulatory issues and advance Cannabis science. Equally interestingly was the fact that a feral variety of Cannabis, Minnesota wild hemp, emerged as the critical botanical source for the profound discoveries in early cannabinoid chemistry. History
The first
Data Loading...
