Pharmaceutical chemistry Content

Researchers Develop an LSD Analogue with Potential for Treating Schizophrenia

Andy Fell — April 14, 2025 - 12:07pm

91��Ƭ, Davis, researchers have developed a new, neuroplasticity-promoting drug closely related to LSD that harnesses the psychedelic’s therapeutic power with reduced hallucinogenic potential.

91��Ƭ Davis Researchers Achieve Total Synthesis of Ibogaine

Andy Fell — February 06, 2025 - 10:45am

Ibogaine — a psychoactive plant derivative — has attracted attention for its anti-addictive and anti-depressant properties. But ibogaine is a finite resource, extracted from plants native to Africa like the iboga shrub (Tabernanthe iboga) and the small-fruited voacanga tree (Voacanga africana). Further, its use can lead to irregular heartbeats, introducing safety risks and an overall need to better understand how its molecular structure leads to its biological effects.

Researchers Step Closer to Mimicking Nature’s Mastery of Chemistry

Andy Fell — January 10, 2024 - 8:45am

In nature, organic molecules are either left- or right-handed, but synthesizing molecules with a specific “handedness” in a lab is hard to do. Make a drug or enzyme with the wrong “handedness,” and it just won’t work. Now chemists at the 91��Ƭ, Davis, are getting closer to mimicking nature’s chemical efficiency through computational modeling and physical experimentation.

91��Ƭ Davis Establishes Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics

Andy Fell — February 02, 2023 - 5:00am

The 91��Ƭ, Davis, has launched the Institute for Psychedelics and Neurotherapeutics to advance basic knowledge about the mechanisms of psychedelics and translate it into safe and effective treatments for diseases such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, among others.

PsychLight Sensor to Enable Discovery of New Psychiatric Drugs

Andy Fell — April 28, 2021 - 8:30am

Introducing psychLight: a sensor for mental illness treatment and drug abuse detection. Learn how 91��Ƭ Davis researchers are advancing mental health technology.

New Compound Related to Psychedelic Ibogaine Could Treat Addiction, Depression

Andy Fell — December 09, 2020 - 8:08am

A non-hallucinogenic version of the psychedelic drug ibogaine, with potential for treating addiction, depression and other psychiatric disorders, has been developed by researchers at the 91��Ƭ, Davis. A paper describing the work is published Dec. 9 in Nature.

“Psychedelics are some of the most powerful drugs we know of that affect the brain,” said David Olson, assistant professor of chemistry at 91��Ƭ Davis and senior author on the paper. “It’s unbelievable how little we know about them.”