What is "desmethylprodine"

n. (context organic compound English) 1-methyl-4-phenyl-4-propionoxypiperidine, an opioid analgesic drug developed in the 1940s, an analogue of meperidine, sometimes used recreationally.

Desmethylprodine or 1-methyl-4-phenyl-4-propionoxypiperidine (MPPP, Ro 2-0718) is an opioid analgesic drug developed in the 1940s by researchers at Hoffmann-La Roche. It is an analog of pethidine (meperidine) which the DEA has labeled as a Schedule I drug in the United States. Chemically, it is a reversed ester of pethidine which has about 70% of the potency of morphine. Unlike its derivative prodine, it was not reported to exhibit optical isomerism. It was reported to have 30 times the activity of pethidine and a greater analgesic effect than morphine in rats, and it was demonstrated to cause central nervous system stimulation in mice.