I noticed that cocaine and ecstacy are referred to as cocaine hydrochloride and MDMA hydrochloride. I have allergy medication in my cabinet that is diphenhydramine hydrochloride.
What’s a hydrochloride and why is it part of a lot of drugs?
In: Chemistry
“Hydrochloride” means that it was reacted with hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is a hydrogen atom and a chlorine atom bound together that have been added to water. This is done because it makes a lot of things more soluble in water. Some things are kind of insoluble, but add some of the acid and they dissolve quite easily. This is especially done with drugs (or with Bromine to form a Bromide) so they dissolve quickly and easily and are absorbed by the body.
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It’s the salt form of the drug. Reacting an organic base (like many drugs) with an acid creates the salt form of that drug. A lot of drugs are sold in a salt form because it makes them water soluble and increases their absorption in your stomach and intestines and also makes the drugs stable so they can be stored for longer without breaking down.
It means that the compound (the drug, in this case) has a part of the molecule that can accept a hydrogen ion (a proton) and become positively charged. Typically, this is an amino group, which is a nitrogen bonded to three other atoms. Look up the chemical structure of diphenhydramine, and you will see this. When the amino group accepts this proton, the nitrogen atom becomes charged with a +1 charge. It needs a negative ion to go with it (a counterion), which in this case is the chloride ion, Cl-. This makes the molecule more soluble in water. You can make a hydrochloride by stirring the non-charged compound with a weak hydrochloric acid solution.
These are just the *salts* (in the chemistry sense of the product of an acid-base reaction) formed by the addition of HC*l* to the compound.
The 3 compounds all have amine group with a nitrogen that is *basic*. So just like how ammonia NH3 can react with HC*l* to form ammonium chloride (“ammonia hydrochloride) by NH3 + HC*l* -> NH4C*l* (or the salt [NH4]^+ C*l*^- ), each of the compounds can undergo a similar acid-base reaction to form their hydrochloride salts.
The salt form is more water-soluble, which changes (compared to the free base “non-salt” form) how fast it is absorbed, how fast it starts acting, etc. The salt form is also typically more shelf-stable and may be easier to manufacture, which is why many are the standard forms used.
A hydrochloride is a compound that results from reacting an organic base with hydrochloric acid (HCl). Doing this creates the salt form of that organic base. Salts (ionic crystals, eg. NaCl, which is table salt) are usually very stable chemically, so they can be stored for long periods of time without spoiling. Furthermore, by creating a salt, it is very water-soluble. For a salt created from a base (which includes all hydrochlorides), this makes it absorb really well in the intestines.
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