Caffeine
1 Caffeine
2
3 Caffeine (C8H10N4O2) is the common name for trimethylxanthine (systematic name is 1,3,7-
4 trimethylxanthine or 3,7-dihydro-1,3,7-trimethyl-1H-purine-2,6-dione). The chemical is also
5 known as coffeine, theine, mateine, guaranine, or methyltheobromine. Caffeine is naturally
6 produced by several plants, including coffee beans, guarana, yerba maté, cacao beans, and tea.
7 For the plants, caffeine acts as a natural pesticide. It paralyzes and kills insects that attempt to
8 feed on the plants. The molecule was first isolated by the German chemist Friedrich Ferdinand
9 Runge in 1819.
10 When purified, caffeine is an intensely bitter white powder. It is added to colas and other soft
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