Dexamphetamines

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Stimulant drugs belonging to the amphetamine family, used medically to treat attention disorders and narcolepsy and sometimes misused for alertness
2. Central nervous system stimulants chemically related to amphetamine, prescribed for conditions such as attention deficit disorder and narcolepsy
3. Powerful synthetic stimulant medicines that act on the brain to increase alertness and energy and are controlled because of their potential for abuse

Etymology: Dexamphetamine is a chemical name built from parts, so its history is really the history of its ingredients. The "amphetamine" part is a contraction of "alpha-methylphenethylamine," a name that describes the molecule's structure: a phenethylamine backbone with a methyl group on the alpha carbon. Amphetamine was first synthesised in 1887 by the Romanian chemist Lazăr Edeleanu, who was working in Berlin, though its stimulant effects were not explored until the 1930s. The "dex-" prefix is short for "dextro-," from Latin "dexter" meaning "right," and it refers to the molecule's handedness. Dexamphetamine is the dextrorotatory enantiomer, the mirror-image form that rotates polarised light to the right, and it is the more potent of the two forms of amphetamine. The plural "dexamphetamines" is simply the countable form of this mass noun, used when referring to multiple tablets or doses, or to different preparations of the drug. Its usage follows the common pattern of pharmaceutical names, where the plural is applied informally to packaged units rather than to the substance itself.

Synonyms: dextroamphetamine, dexedrine