Abstract
Vinpocetine (vinpocetine-ethyl apovincaminate) was synthesized in the late 1960s from the alkaloid vincamine, extracted from the leaf of the lesser periwinkle plant (Vinca minor).1 Vinpocetine was made available under the trade name Cavinton in 1978 and has since been used widely in Japan, Hungary, Germany, Poland, and Russia for the treatment of cerebrovascular-related pathologies.2 Several clinical studies have confirmed the neuroprotective effects of this compound.