For instance, adderall, from what I’ve seen it looks like the main active ingredient is d-amphetamine and l-amphetamine salts. But I guess what I’m not understanding is HOW is THAT made? I am assuming amphetamine doesn’t naturally occur anywhere, (example. like a plant that’s grown and used to extract whatever out of.) So where are the active ingredients coming from? Or derived from? Do all medication ingredients essentially come from SOMETHING growing naturally the wild?
I’m sorry if this wasn’t asked correctly, basically I understand there’s people or machines in a lab creating and mixing ingredients to MAKE adderall, but where are these ingredients coming from?
In: Biology
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) are synthesized by organic chemists. The field of organic chemistry deals with using reactants (either things found in nature or otherwise also synthesized from simpler compounds) and complex chemistry to generate a final product. In the case of amphetamine, the synthesis is pretty simple and straightforward from an organic chemistry standpoint. The API is then mixed with ingredients called excipients in a V blender for solid dose formulations and pressed into a pill by a pill press. In the case of Adderall, extended release formulations use a different process. The API itself is usually the hardest part to make as it involves complex machinery and purification, and the formulation is easier but still challenging.
Latest Answers