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Image:Barbital.svg Barbital
5,5-diethyl-1,3-diazinane-2,4,6-trione Ethylbarbital IUPAC name
CAS number 57-44-3	ATC code N05CA04
PubChem 2294	DrugBank ?
Chemical formula	{{{chemical_formula}}}
Molecular weight	184.193 g/mol
Bioavailability	?
Metabolism	?
Elimination half-life	?
Excretion	?
Pregnancy category	?
Legal status	?
Routes of administration	Oral

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.

[edit] References

• 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.
• "Emma Zunz" by Jorge Luis Borges (short story)

Barbiturates edit
Allobarbital, Amobarbital, Aprobarbital, Barbexaclone, Barbital, Butabarbital, Butalbital, Butobarbital, Cyclobarbital, Ethallobarbital, Heptabarbital, Hexobarbital, Mephobarbital, Metharbital, Methohexital, Methylphenobarbital, Pentobarbital, Phenobarbital, Primidone, Proxibarbal, Reposal, Secobarbital, Talbutal, Thiobarbital, Thiopental, Vinbarbital, Vinylbital

This box: view • talk • edit Psycholeptics: hypnotics and sedatives (N05C)
Barbiturates	Pentobarbital - Amobarbital - Butobarbital - Barbital - Aprobarbital - Secobarbital - Talbutal - Vinylbital - Vinbarbital - Cyclobarbital - Heptabarbital - Reposal - Methohexital - Hexobarbital - Thiopental Ethallobarbital - Allobarbital - Proxibarbal - Phenobarbital
Aldehydes	Chloral hydrate - Chloralodol - Acetylglycinamide chloral hydrate - Dichloralphenazone - Paraldehyde
Benzodiazepine	Flurazepam - Nitrazepam - Temazepam - Flunitrazepam - Nimetazepam - Estazolam - Triazolam - Lormetazepam - Midazolam - Brotizolam - Quazepam - Loprazolam - Doxefazepam - Cinolazepam
Piperidinedione	Glutethimide - Methyprylon - Pyrithyldione
Nonbenzodiazepine	Zopiclone/Eszopiclone - Zolpidem - Zaleplon
Melatonin receptor	Melatonin - Ramelteon
Other	Methaqualone - Clomethiazole - Bromisoval - Carbromal - Scopolamine - Propiomazine - Triclofos - Ethchlorvynol - Valerian - Hexapropymate - Bromides - Apronal - Valnoctamide - Methylpentynol - Niaprazine - Dexmedetomidine

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Barbital. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.