8-Carboxamidocyclazocine (8-CAC) is an opioidanalgesic drug related to cyclazocine, discovered by medicinal chemist Mark P. Wentland and co-workers in Cogswell Laboratory at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.[1] Similarly to cyclazocine, 8-CAC acts as an agonist at both the μ- and κ-opioid receptors, but has a much longer duration of action than cyclazocine, and does not have μ antagonist activity. Unexpectedly, it was discovered that the phenolichydroxyl group of cyclazocine could be replaced by a carboxamido group with only slight loss of potency at opioid receptors, and this discovery has subsequently been used to develop many novel opioid derivatives where the phenolic hydroxy group has been replaced by either carboxamide or a variety of larger groups. Due to their strong κ-opioid agonist activity, these drugs are not suited for use as analgesics in humans, but have instead been researched as potential drugs for the treatment of cocaine addiction.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
^Wentland MP, Lou R, Ye Y, Cohen DJ, Richardson GP, Bidlack JM (March 2001). "8-Carboxamidocyclazocine analogues: redefining the structure-activity relationships of 2,6-methano-3-benzazocines". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 11 (5): 623–6. doi:10.1016/S0960-894X(01)00014-2. PMID11266156.
^Bidlack JM, Cohen DJ, McLaughlin JP, Lou R, Ye Y, Wentland MP (July 2002). "8-Carboxamidocyclazocine: a long-acting, novel benzomorphan". The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics. 302 (1): 374–80. doi:10.1124/jpet.302.1.374. PMID12065740. S2CID15864569.
^Stevenson GW, Wentland MP, Bidlack JM, Mello NK, Negus SS (December 2004). "Effects of the mixed-action kappa/mu opioid agonist 8-carboxamidocyclazocine on cocaine- and food-maintained responding in rhesus monkeys". European Journal of Pharmacology. 506 (2): 133–41. doi:10.1016/j.ejphar.2004.10.051. PMID15588733.
^Wentland MP, VanAlstine M, Kucejko R, Lou R, Cohen DJ, Parkhill AL, Bidlack JM (September 2006). "Redefining the structure-activity relationships of 2,6-methano-3-benzazocines. 4. Opioid receptor binding properties of 8-[N-(4'-phenyl)-phenethyl)carboxamido] analogues of cyclazocine and ethylketocycalzocine". Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 49 (18): 5635–9. doi:10.1021/jm060278n. PMID16942039.
^Wentland MP, Lu Q, Ganorkar R, Zhang SZ, Jo S, Cohen DJ, Bidlack JM (January 2009). "Redefining the structure-activity relationships of 2,6-methano-3-benzazocines. Part 7: syntheses and opioid receptor properties of cyclic variants of cyclazocine". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters. 19 (2): 365–8. doi:10.1016/j.bmcl.2008.11.076. PMID19091564.