Morphine and heroin , both are narcotic analgesics , Heroin may be obtained from morphine by

Options

A. nitration
B. acetylation
C. chlorination
D. none of these

Answer

To convert morphine to heroin, we need to perform a chemical reaction known as acetylation. Below are the step-by-step details of the process:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Identify the Structures**:
- Morphine contains two hydroxyl (–OH) groups and a methyl group.
- Heroin is structurally similar to morphine but has two acetyl (–OCOCH3) groups instead of the hydroxyl groups.

2. **Understanding the Reaction**:
- The conversion from morphine to heroin involves replacing the hydroxyl groups with acetyl groups. This process is known as acetylation.

3. **Reagents Required**:
- To perform the acetylation, we can use either acetyl chloride (CH3COCl) or acetic anhydride ((CH3CO)2O) as the acetylating agent.

4. **Reaction Mechanism**:
- When morphine reacts with acetyl chloride or acetic anhydride, the hydroxyl groups (–OH) will react with the acetylating agent to form esters.
- The reaction can be summarized as follows:
- Morphine + Acetyl Chloride → Heroin + HCl (or)
- Morphine + Acetic Anhydride → Heroin + Acetic Acid

5. **Final Product**:
- After the reaction, morphine is converted to heroin, which has two acetyl groups replacing the hydroxyl groups.

### Conclusion:
The correct method to obtain heroin from morphine is through **acetylation**.