chemistry

Methylphenobarbital

Methylphenobarbital is a chemistry topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Methylphenobarbital rather than just read about it. In short: Methylphenobarbital (INN), also known as mephobarbital (USAN, JAN) and mephobarbitone (BAN), marketed under brand names such as Mebaral, Mephyltaletten, Phemiton, and Prominal, is a drug which is a barbiturate derivative and is used primarily as an anticonvulsant, but also as a sedative and anxiolytic. It is the N-methylated analogue of phenobarbital and has similar indications, therapeutic value, and tolerability.

Key takeaways

Methylphenobarbital belongs to chemistry; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Methylphenobarbital to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Methylphenobarbital from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Methylphenobarbital (INN), also known as mephobarbital (USAN, JAN) and mephobarbitone (BAN), marketed under brand names such as Mebaral, Mephyltaletten, Phemiton, and Prominal, is a drug which is a barbiturate derivative and is used primarily as an anticonvulsant, but also as a sedative and anxiolytic. It is the N-methylated analogue of phenobarbital and has similar indications, therapeutic value, and tolerability.

Approval history 1935 – Mebaral was introduced by Winthrop Pharmaceuticals. 2001 – Methylphenobarbital discontinued in the UK. 2003 – Mebaral was acquired by Ovation Pharmaceuticals (a specialty pharmaceutical company that acquired under-promoted branded pharmaceutical products). 2009 – Ovation was acquired by Lundbeck, which now markets Mebaral. 2012 – Lundbeck announced that they were abandoning the product in the US as of January 6, 2012. The stated reason was because "the company thoroughly evaluated all avenues for keeping Mebaral available to patients, but ultimately concluded that no matter what steps they [i.e. Lundbeck] took, patients would be forced to transition to a new therapy." The company further stated in a letter on its website that under the FDA's Unapproved Drugs Initiative, FDA is no longer willing to allow the drug to be grandfathered. A new drug application would have needed to have been submitted to gain marketing approval, which would have taken an estimated five years, during which time patients would be required to change their therapies in any case. The last available tablets bore an expiration date of March 31, 2012, and the drug will no longer be available in the US when supplies are depleted.

Side effects The use of antiepileptic drugs including methylphenobarbital during pregnancy may be associated with birth defects.

Overdose Symptoms of overdose of mephobarbital include confusion, decrease in or loss of reflexes, somnolence, fever, irritability, hypothermia, poor judgment, shortness of breath or slow/troubled breathing, slow heartbeat, slurred speech, staggering, trouble in sleeping, unusual movements of the eyes, weakness.

See also Hexobarbital Metharbital Phenobarbital

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Methylphenobarbital

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Methylphenobarbital claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In chemistry, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Methylphenobarbital before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Methylphenobarbital ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Methylphenobarbital

In research: Methylphenobarbital appears in chemistry research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Methylphenobarbital in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Methylphenobarbital is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Anticonvulsants, Barbiturates, Ethyl compounds, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Methylphenobarbital outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Methylphenobarbital in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Methylphenobarbital means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Methylphenobarbital out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Methylphenobarbital in simple terms?

Why does Methylphenobarbital matter?

Because it connects several chemistry ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Methylphenobarbital?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Methylphenobarbital.