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N-methylcocaine cation (pictured) is a cocaine analog that blocks HERG intracellularly, if somehow it were able to get into a cell. A review of tropane alkaloids in Erythroxylum does not include it, or any N,N-dimethyl derivative, but this might be attributed to the issue that a quaternary ammonium salt, though it might be technically considered an alkaloid, would not be isolated (or removed from a soft drink flavoring?) by acid-base extraction. But before we let paranoia overtake us ... is there any indication the compound exists as a natural product? (You don't need to look beyond Erythroxylum. An answer just for E. coca or E. novogranatense would be welcome.)

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    $\begingroup$ HERG? It may make you paranoid, but please keep the rest of the list out of it. $\endgroup$
    – David
    Apr 20, 2021 at 10:10
  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure which list you mean, but here's one. The way this article tells it, anything in your kitchen probably messes with the channel. True, this makes me less sure that this was a meaningful observation about the compound in this question, but I'm still curious. $\endgroup$
    – Mike Serfas
    Apr 20, 2021 at 16:27
  • $\begingroup$ the question of whether it can exist or not is not answerable. rather i would ask can it not exist and why?. Nature encompasses the entire universe. just because humans haven't seen it or synthesized doesn't mean there isn't a planet out there full of it. or a bacterium it there that makes it. $\endgroup$
    – raygozag
    Apr 21, 2021 at 0:56
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    $\begingroup$ I admit, I wasn't literally thinking Mars. An answer from Erythroxylum or even just E. coca would be quite welcome. $\endgroup$
    – Mike Serfas
    Apr 21, 2021 at 21:26
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    $\begingroup$ My comment was an oblique way of suggesting you define HERG, and, if you must personalize please do not use the first person plural, as it suggests the reader shares your emotions. However, on a less oblique note, may I suggest that you move your post to Chemistry SE. Not only is it a little more likely that someone there will know the answer, but, more to the point, someone there is more likely to know how to find the answer. I imagine there are books and electronic sources for information about natural products, because of their vast numbers and pharmaceutical importance. $\endgroup$
    – David
    Apr 22, 2021 at 16:47

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