Synthesize your own tetrodotoxin

[pin-pin]

I was chatting up with another graduate student and found out that he was making Taricha poison!

Anyhow, for those of you with the correct starting materials and catalysts, you too can make your own taricha poison.

"A Stereoselective Synthesis of (-)-Tetrodotoxin
Hinman, A.; Du Bois, J.; J. Am. Chem. Soc.; (Communication); 2003; 125(38); 11510-11511. DOI: 10.1021/ja0368305"

If you're interested, I can e-mail you the article.

 

[nate]

And the practical applications for the casual hobbyist are...?

 

[brian]

I'll be sure to check it out after the articles I'm already reading.

 

[juraj]

Maybe add to morning coffee ?

 

[paul]

Poisoning enemies?

 

[pin-pin]

To know and embody everything Taricha of course.

(What is that emoticon anyways? It looks pretty funny.)

 

[kaysie]

looks constipated

 

[paris]

actually i'd like a copy-i have written a report before of the toxins possible use for treating neurological disorders-and since it blocks sodium channels it may have other applications.

 

[TJ]

"To know and embody everything Taricha" -- hmmm, great expression and I really admire that goal you've set for yourself! But it would sound even better if "Taricha" were replaced with say "Cynops"

No, but really, Taricha are really cool newts and I'd also be into them too if I lived where you do!

 

[uwe]

Dear Herpers,

TTX (the poison of Taricha and others)is commercially available as it is used to block Na-Channels in electrophysological experiments.

Cheers

Uwe

 

[pin-pin]

Thanks Uwe, for clarifying.

 

[liz]

i'm doing my graduate work on Taricha and the evolution of toxicity. you should know that TTX is not only highly toxic, but also considered a "select agent" under the Patriot Act because of potential bioterrorist use. in the US at least, purchasing it is controlled and any entity possessing it is supposed to be listed with/approved by the federal government. using it in research requires biosafety approval from your institution, lots of forms. probably not something to joke about making, anyway...

 

[kaysie]

No one was joking about making it. She said she was chatting with a graduate student who IS making it (one would assume for research purposes).

and everyone here's aware of the toxicity of TTX

 

[uwe]

Hi Liz,

there are several articles on the evolution of Tarichas toxicity from the Brodies. This a very interesting topic.
That the toxin is very poisonous is obvious to all and the availability is restricted naturally to the scientific community. The "Patriot Act" doesn´t make any difference in the case of toxicity.

Uwe

 

[shaun]

To be fair, Jorge and Paul did joke about using TTX to make coffee and poison enemies, but I don't think that was offensive considering the nature of this forum, and the fact that most caudate enthusiasts don't attribute their love of the hobby to any specific interest in controlled substances.

 

[liz]

i didn't meant to offend anyone, i just wanted you all to be aware that ttx is a substance being watched (on some level) for potential bioterrorist activities. this is a public forum, who knows--you could turn up on some terrorist watch list just for discussion of the fact that it is possible to synthesize ttx...

 

[brian]

Liz- are you involved with that work that came out that showed the evolution of extremely toxic Taricha hotspots multiple times and independently?