Dipropanoylmorphine

Dipropanoylmorphine (Dipropionylmorphine in U.S. English) is an opiate derivative, the 3,6-dipropanoyl ester of morphine. It was developed in 1972 as an analgesic. It is rarely used in some countries for the relief of severe pain such as that caused by terminal cancer, as an alternative to diamorphine (heroin) and morphine. The drug was first synthesised circa or about 1875 in Great Britain along with many other esters of morphine, all of which were shelved at the time, some of which were later developed such as heroin (1898), acetylpropionylmorphine (1923), dibenzoylmorphine (1900 and/or 1924), and so on. The name of this drug is also given as 3,6-dipropanoylmorphine and its 6-mono-acetylated homologue is also a longer-acting heroin-like drug, as are 3,6-diformylmorphine and 6-formylmorphine.