reservations, that synephrine was "advertised as an antihistaminic to be used in the treatment of the common cold...", under the trade name of "Synephrin Tartrate", and indicated that the dose was 100 mg, given intramuscularly, or subcutaneously. Published in 1966, the Textbook of Organic Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry described synephrine (in the form of its racemic tartrate) as a sympathomimetic agent that was "less effective than epinephrine", and which had been used for the treatment of chronic hypotension, collapse due to shock, and other conditions leading to hypotension. In a later (1972) textbook, synephrine was described as a drug, sold in Europe, that was administered in situations involving shock, such as surgical or bacteremic shock, and spinal anesthesia-related shock. The recommended dose was given here as 25–50 mg, by intravenous, intramuscular or subcutaneous administration. There is no mention of synephrine in editions of Drill's Pharmacology in Medicine later than the 3rd, nor is there any reference to synephrine in the 2012 Physicians' Desk Reference, nor in the current FDA "Orange Book". One current reference source describes synephrine as a vasoconstrictor that has been given to hypotensive patients, orally or by injection, in doses of 20–100 mg. One website from a healthcare media company, accessed in February, 2013, refers to oxedrine as being indicated for hypotensive states, in oral doses of 100–150 mg tid, and as a "conjunctival decongestant" to be topically applied as a 0.5% solution. However, no supporting references are provided. Names There has been some confusion about the biological effects of synephrine because of the similarity of this un-prefixed name to the names m-synephrine, Meta-synephrine and Neosynephrine, all of which refer to a related drug and naturally-occurring amine more commonly known as phenylephrine. Although there are chemical and pharmacological similarities between synephrine and phenylephrine, they are nevertheless different substances. The confusion is compounded by the fact that synephrine has been marketed as a drug under numerous different names, including Sympatol, Sympathol, Synthenate, and oxedrine, while phenylephrine has also been called m-Sympatol. The synephrine with which this article deals is sometimes referred to as p-synephrine in order to distinguish it from its positional isomers, m-synephrine and o-synephrine. A comprehensive listing of alternative names for synephrine may be found in the ChemSpider entry (see Chembox, at right). Confusion over the distinctions between p- and m-synephrine has even contaminated the primary research literature. Even the name "p-synephrine" is not unambiguous, since