[jdurg]

I can see an "Oh my god this is hot, hot, hot, give me some beer NOW!" functional group.  

[Edit: for the origin of this thread's idea: http://www.chemicalforums.com/index.php?board=3;action=display;threadid=281&start=0 ]

[Donaldson Tan]

Is this the chemical responsible for spicy taste in chilli too?

[Scratch-]

I have a question... If spicy food is just your taste buds response to a compound then why can it permanently damage your taste buds?  

[jdurg]

Is this the chemical responsible for spicy taste in chilli too?

Capsaicin is what gives pepper plants their "bite."  It's the chemical responsible for the heat in peppers.  It can cause damage to your taste buds by binding too strongly too them, thus causing them to lose their ability to taste.  Either that, or when they bind to your taste buds and are subsequently removed, they can damage the chemical composition of your taste buds.  It's basically an overstimulation, so to speak.  

[Scratch-]

Then how come you never hear about people losing their taste because of other things? Do they not bond as strongly?

[gregpawin]

Check out this page of hot sauces.  And you thought Tabasco was hot, some of these sauces have crystallized capsaicin in them!

http://www.chez-williams.com/Hot%20Sauce/hothome.htm

And it looks as though people are into getting the most amount of capsaicin possible.  Maybe we should get into the business of synthsizing capsaicin and selling it for astronomical prices.

[Mitch]

Synthesize? IT would be far cheaper just to isolate it. Let's start a chilli farm.

[xALmoN]

acid base extraction?

[Corvettaholic]

How would you go about isolating this stuff? Lets pretend I was dumb enough to stick a capsaicin crystal in my mouth. Would it kill me? Seems to me I'd want to die, or end up with permanent damage if I did that.

[jdurg]

I think you'd be in a lot of pain.  As for isolating it, it's already done and on massive scales.  You know pepper spray?  That's capsaicin.  Capsaicin is also used in many arthritis compounds, so the ability to extract/purify it has already been investigated and is being used.

[Corvettaholic]

Oh I know its been done, and is being done, I was just wondering if any of you guys know an easy to way to do it a home off the top of your heads. Figure I'll do a google search and see what I come up with. I'm pretty sure capsaicin is also in the CS tear gas that I get to play with in the army?