Editing Vecuronium bromide (section)

==History==
As long ago as 1862, adventurer Don Ramon Paez described a Venezuelan poison, [[guachamaca]], which the indigenous peoples used to lace sardines as bait for herons and cranes. If the head and neck of a bird so killed was cut off, the remainder of the flesh could be eaten safely. Paez also described the attempt of a [[Llanero]] woman to murder a rival to her lover's affections with guachamaca and unintentionally killed 10 other people when her husband shared his food with their guests.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/scenesinsouthamer00pezr|title=Wild Scenes in South America, Or, Life in the Llanos of Venezuela| vauthors = Páez R |date=1 January 1862|publisher=C. Scribner|pages=[https://archive.org/details/scenesinsouthamer00pezr/page/206 206]–208|quote=A dreadful case of poisoning by means of this plant had just occurred at Nutrias soon after our arrival on the Apure which created for a time great excitement even amidst that scattered population}}</ref> It is probable that the plant was ''[[Malouetia]] nitida'' or ''Malouetia schomburgki''.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal | vauthors = McKenzie AG | title = Prelude to pancuronium and vecuronium | journal = Anaesthesia | volume = 55 | issue = 6 | pages = 551–556 | date = June 2000 | pmid = 10866718 | doi = 10.1046/j.1365-2044.2000.01423.x | s2cid = 22476701 | doi-access =  }}</ref>

The genus ''Malouetia'' (family ''[[Apocynaceae]]'') is found in both [[South America]] and [[Africa]]. The botanist Robert E. Woodson Jr comprehensively classified the American species of ''Malouetia'' in 1935. At that time, only one African species of ''Malouetia'' was recognized, but the following year Woodson described a second: ''Malouetia bequaertiana'', from the Belgian Congo.<ref name=":0" />

In 1960, scientists reported the isolation of [[malouetine]] from the roots and bark of ''Malouetia bequaertiana'' Woodson by means of an ion exchange technique. Optimization of the aminosteroid nucleus led to a sequence of synthesized derivatives, ultimately leading to [[pancuronium bromide]] in 1964. The name was derived from p(iperidino)an(drostane)cur(arising)-onium.<ref name=":0" />

A paper published in 1973 discussed the structure-activity relationships of a series of [[aminosteroid]] muscle relaxants, including the [[Neuromuscular-blocking drug#Pharmacokinetics|mono-quaternary]] analogue of pancuronium, later called vecuronium.<ref name=":0" />