Nepetalactone is a lactone[?] chemical compund[?] first isolated in the plant catnip, Nepeta cataria (apparently named after the Italian town of Nepete[?]).
Nepetalactone's structure is two rings - a cyclopentane[?] and a cyclic ester[?], making a terpenoid. Empirically it is C9H14O2. The structure and the effect of the compound is similar to valepotriates. There are a number of isomers of nepetalactone.
As 4aα,7α,7aα-nepetalactone it is the active chemical in Nepeta cataria that causes its characteristic effect on cats. Around 75% of cats are effected, susceptibility is gene linked. The chemical interacts as a vapour at the vomeronasal organ.
In humans the compound has a number of mild effects, it is a weak sedative[?], antispasmodic, febrifuge and antibacterial[?], in high doses it has an emetic effect.
Nepetalactone also has an effect on some insects, repelling the cockroach and mosquito, poisonous to some common flies, but a sex pheremone to aphids.
Nepetalactone was first isolated in 1941.
