Etomidate - 2

Chemistry

Etomidate is an ethyl ester of a carboxylated imidazole, specifically:

R-(+)-ethyl-1-(alpha-methyl-benzyl)imidazole-5-carboxlyate

etomidate
Only the R(+) enantiomer is hypnotically active; and etomidate is the only anesthetic agent marketed as only the active isomer.

Etomidate is insoluble and unstable in neutral water, so is prepared and marketed as etomidate (Amidate), 2 mg/ml in propylene glycol (35% by volume), pH 6.9, osmolality 4,640 mOsm/L.



Greg Gordon MD
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