Amobarbital

Structural formula
General
Non-proprietary name	Amobarbital
other names	5-ethyl-5-isopentylbarbituric acid ( IUPAC )
Molecular formula	C 11 H 18 N 2 O 3
Brief description	white to almost white, crystalline powder
External identifiers / databases
EC number	200-330-7
ECHA InfoCard	100,000,300
PubChem	2164
ChemSpider	2079
DrugBank	DB01351
Wikidata	Q415850
Drug information
ATC code	N05 CA02
Drug class	Hypnotics , ganglia blockers
properties
Molar mass	226.28 g mol −1
Physical state	firmly
Melting point	156-158 ° C
solubility	very sparingly soluble in water, slightly soluble in ethanol 96%, soluble in dichloromethane
safety instructions
	Please note the exemption from the labeling requirement for drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, food and animal feed
GHS labeling of hazardous substances Sodium salt; danger
H and P phrases	H: 301
	P: 301 + 310
Toxicological data	250 mg kg −1 ( LD 50 , rat , oral )
	As far as possible and customary, SI units are used. Unless otherwise noted, the data given apply to standard conditions .

Amobarbital is a long-acting barbiturate that acts on the GABA _A receptors . It has an elimination half-life of 8 to 42 hours. Its use was widespread in medicines ( sleeping pills , sedatives ) before the discovery of benzodiazepines ; today, the sale of finished drugs has ceased in almost all countries. Amobarbital is broken down by the liver.

Amobarbital was and is still used today in various countries, including the USA , as a truth serum to clarify crimes. Beyond these cases, it was first used in 1930 by William Bleckwenn at the University of Wisconsin in psychiatric patients to release their stuporous blockages, among other things . Since 1949 it has been used in the presurgical diagnosis of epilepsy in the Wada test .

Trade names

Sodium Amytal (GB), Tuinal (GB), Dorlotyn (H)

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b AMOBARBITAL CRS data sheet (PDF) at EDQM , accessed on April 13, 2009.

↑ Entry on amobarbital. In: Römpp Online . Georg Thieme Verlag, accessed on November 12, 2014.

↑ ^a ^b Amobarbital sodium salt data sheet from Sigma-Aldrich , accessed on May 5, 2011 ( PDF ).

^ Entry on amobarbital in the ChemIDplus database of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) .

↑ PL Smith, DK Schwartz: Sodium amytal as a means of obtaining contact in stuporous and uncommunicative cases. In: The Psychiatric Quarterly. 8, 1934, pp. 748-753, doi : 10.1007 / BF01568436 .

↑ Wada JA .: A new method for determination of the side of cerebral speech dominance. A preliminary report on the intracarotid injection of sodium amytal in man. In: Med & Biol . tape 14 , 1949, pp. 221-222 .

[Ph._Eur.-1] AMOBARBITAL CRS data sheet (PDF) at EDQM , accessed on April 13, 2009.

[RÖMPP_Online-2] Entry on amobarbital. In: Römpp Online . Georg Thieme Verlag, accessed on November 12, 2014.

[Sigma-3] Amobarbital sodium salt data sheet from Sigma-Aldrich , accessed on May 5, 2011 ( PDF ).

[ChemIDplus-4] Entry on amobarbital in the ChemIDplus database of the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM) .

[5] PL Smith, DK Schwartz: Sodium amytal as a means of obtaining contact in stuporous and uncommunicative cases. In: The Psychiatric Quarterly. 8, 1934, pp. 748-753, doi : 10.1007 / BF01568436 .

[6] Wada JA .: A new method for determination of the side of cerebral speech dominance. A preliminary report on the intracarotid injection of sodium amytal in man. In: Med & Biol . tape 14 , 1949, pp. 221-222 .