Oleamide (1, cis-9-octadecenamide) is a naturally occurring brain constituent that has been shown to accumulate and disappear under conditions of sleep deprivation and sleep recovery, respectively. Synthetic 1 has been found to induce sleep in a structurally specific manner at nanomolar quantities. Hydrolysis of 1 by an enzyme (oleamide hydrolase) present in the cell membrane rapidly degrades oleamide to oleic acid (cis-9-octadecenoic ...