Chemistry
Norepinephrine is a catecholamine and a phenethylamine. The natural stereoisomer is -(−)-(R)-norepinephrine. The prefix nor- indicates that norepinephrine is the next-lower homolog of epinephrine. The two structures differ only in that epinephrine has a methyl group attached to its nitrogen, whereas the methyl group is replaced by a hydrogen atom in norepinephrine. The prefix nor- is likely derived as an abbreviation of the word "normal", used to indicate a demethylated compound.
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