Caffeine (C8H10N4O2) is the common name for
trimethylxanthine.
(Systematic name is 1,3,7-trimethylxanthine or
3,7-dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione.)
The chemical is also known as coffeine, theine, mateine,
guaranine, or methyltheobromine. Caffeine is naturally produced
by several plants, including coffee beans, guarana, yerba maté,
cacao beans, and tea. For the plants, caffeine acts as a natural
pesticide. It paralyzes and kills insects that attempt to feed
on the plants. The molecule was first isolated by the German
chemist Friedrich Ferdinand Runge in 1819. |
Caffeine consists of two carbon/nitrogen rings with oxygen
and methyl groups as substituents. |
Caffeine is a xanthine alkaloid compound that acts as a
psychoactive stimulant in humans. The word comes from the French
term for coffee, café. Caffeine is sometimes called theine when
found in tea.
Caffeine is found in the leaves and beans of the coffee plant,
in tea, yerba mate, guarana berries, the kola nut, the Yaupon
Holly, and in small quantities in cocoa. Overall, caffeine is
found in the beans, leaves, and fruit of over 60 plants, where
it acts as a natural pesticide that paralyzes and kills certain
insects feeding on the plants. |
