Barbital

BarbitalFile:Barbital.svg

Clinical data
Pregnancy
category|

* ?

Routes of
administration| Oral
ATC code|

* N05CA04 (WHO)

Legal status
Legal status|

* ?

Pharmacokinetic data
Bioavailability| ?
Metabolism| ?
Elimination half-life| ?
Excretion| ?
Identifiers

IUPAC name

* 5,5-diethyl-1,3-diazinane-2,4,6-trione Ethylbarbital

CAS Number|

* 57-44-3

PubChem CID|

* 2294

DrugBank|

* ?

E number| {{#property:P628}}
ECHA InfoCard| {{#property:P2566}}Lua error in Module:EditAtWikidata at line 36: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
Chemical and physical data
Formula| C8H12N2O3
Molar mass| 184.193 g/mol

Barbital (marketed under the brand name Veronal), also called barbitone, was the first commercially marketed barbiturate. It was used as a sleeping aid (hypnotic) from 1903 until the mid-1950s. The chemical names for barbital are diethylmalonyl urea or diethylbarbituric acid. Its chemical formula is (C2H5)2C~CO NH]ICO (sodium 5,5-diethyl barbiturate). Veronal was prepared by condensing diethylmalonic ester with urea in the presence of sodium ethylate, or by adding ethyl iodide to the silver salt of malonylurea. The result was an odorless, slightly bitter, white crystalline powder.

Barbital was first synthesized in 1902 by German chemists Emil Fischer and Joseph von Mering. They published their discovery in 1903 and it was marketed in 1904 by the Bayer company as “Veronal”. A soluble salt of barbital was marketed by the Schering company as “Medinal.” It was dispensed for “insomnia induced by nervous excitability”. [1] It was provided in either capsules or cachets. The therapeutic dose was ten to fifteen grains (0.65-0.97 grams). 3.5 to 4.4 grams is the deadly dose but sleep has also been prolonged up to ten days with recovery.

Veronal was considered to be a great improvement over the existing hypnotics. Its taste was slightly bitter, but an improvement over the strong, unpleasant taste of the commonly used bromides. It had few side effects. Its therapeutic dose was far below the toxic dose. However, prolonged usage resulted in tolerance to the drug, requiring higher doses to reach the desired effect. Fatal overdoses of this slow acting hypnotic were not uncommon.

## References[edit | edit source]

* Fischer, Emil and Joseph von Mering, “Ueber eine neue Klasse von Schlafmitteln”, Therap Gegenw 44:97-101, 1903.
* "Veronal", in Finley, Ellingwood, M.D. The American Materia Medica, Therapeutics and Pharmacognosy", 1919. [2], accessed 07 Nov 2005.

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*[CID]: Compound ID