An immunotherapeutic program for the treatment of nicotine addiction: hapten design and synthesis.

People continue to smoke and use tobacco products despite well-established hazardous consequences. The most contributing factor is the addictive nature of nicotine. There is no highly effective treatment for the problem of nicotine dependence. Immunotherapy offers an alternative to conventional approaches. The chemistry necessary for a comprehensive immunopharmacological program is presented. Haptens for the generation of antibodies specific for naturally occurring (S)-nicotine, (S)- and (R)-nornicotine, and the metabolite (S)-cotinine were prepared with high optical purity. Preliminary data for antinicotine antibodies are reported.