Levamphetamine

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A left-handed form of amphetamine that is used in nasal inhalers to relieve congestion in the nose and airways
2. The levo isomer of amphetamine, a stimulant-related compound once employed as an inhaled decongestant for stuffy noses
3. A mirror-image variant of amphetamine that acts mainly as a nasal decongestant when inhaled from a medicated inhaler

Etymology: Levamphetamine is a compound of "levo-", from Latin "laevus" meaning "left", and "amphetamine". The prefix "levo-" is a chemistry convention: when a molecule can exist in two mirror-image forms, the one that rotates polarized light to the left is labelled "levo", and its mirror image "dextro" (from Latin "dexter", "right"). So the word names the left-handed mirror-image form of amphetamine, the molecule's own "left-handed" twin. The "amphetamine" part is itself a coinage from the chemical name alpha-methylphenethylamine, shortened into a compound-based name and used for the parent drug. Because amphetamine has a single stereocentre, it exists as two enantiomers, and levamphetamine is the one with the weaker stimulant effect, which is why it has been used in nasal decongestants in some countries while its right-handed partner is the more potent stimulant.

Synonyms: levoamphetamine