chemistry

Molsidomine

Molsidomine 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 Molsidomine rather than just read about it. In short: Molsidomine (trade names Corvasal, Corvaton and many others) is an orally active, short acting vasodilating drug used to treat angina pectoris. Molsidomine is metabolized in the liver to the active metabolite linsidomine.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Molsidomine (trade names Corvasal, Corvaton and many others) is an orally active, short acting vasodilating drug used to treat angina pectoris. Molsidomine is metabolized in the liver to the active metabolite linsidomine. Linsidomine is an unstable compound that releases nitric oxide (NO) upon decay as the actual vasodilating compound.

Medical uses Molsidomine is used for the prevention and long-term treatment of stable and unstable angina pectoris, with or without left heart failure. It is also used to treat angina in the context of an acute myocardial infarction.

Contraindications The drug must not be used in patients with acute cardiac arrest or severe hypotension (low blood pressure), during lactation, and in combination with PDE5 inhibitors such as sildenafil.

Side effects The most common adverse effects are headache, which occurs in 10–25% of patients, and low blood pressure. Side effects occurring in fewer than 1% of patients include dizziness, nausea, reflex tachycardia (fast heartbeat), hypersensitivity reactions, as well as thrombocytopenia (low blood platelet count) in rare cases.

Interactions The blood pressure lowering effect of molsidomine can be amplified significantly by PDE5 inhibitors, potentially leading to fainting or myocardial infarction, and to a lesser extent by other antihypertensive drugs such as beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, or other nitrovasodilators. Ergolines can antagonise the effects of molsidomine.

Pharmacology

Mechanism of action

Molsidomine belongs to the drug class of nitrovasodilators. It releases NO, which acts as a gaseous signaling molecule, relaxing the smooth muscles of blood vessels.

Pharmacokinetics The substance is quickly and almost completely (>90%) absorbed from the gut. Molsidomine is a prodrug that is hydrolysed to linsidomine (SIN-1) in the liver via first-pass effect, which subsequently releases NO. 44–59% of molsidomine reach the bloodstream in unchanged form, 3–11% of which are bound to plasma proteins. Both molsidomine and linsidomine reach their highest concentrations in the blood plasma after one to two hours. Linsidomine has a biological half-life of one to two hours. More than 90% are excreted via the kidney.

Chemistry

Molsidomine and linsidomine are sydnone imines, a class of mesoionic heterocyclic aromatic chemical compounds. Molsidomine melts at 140–141 °C (284–286 °F), is freely soluble in chloroform, soluble in aqueous hydrochloric acid, ethanol, ethyl acetate and methanol, sparingly soluble in water and acetone, and very slightly soluble in diethyl ether and petroleum ether. It is stable in aqueous solutions at pH 5–7, but not in alkaline solutions. Its absorption maximum is in the near ultraviolet, at 326 nm, in chloroform. The substance is sensitive to ultraviolet light at wavelengths shorter than 320 nm.

Synthesis

Its synthesis starts by reacting 1-aminomorpholine with formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide to give 2. Nitrosation gives the N-nitroso analog (3) which cyclizes to the Linsidomine (4) on treatment with anhydrous acid. Formation of the ethyl urethane is then made possible by reacting linsidomine with ethyl chloroformate. Also see a related structure called Ciclosidomine.

History The substance was first synthesised at Takeda in 1970. Its antihypertensive and vasodilating properties were discovered the same year.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Molsidomine

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Molsidomine 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 Molsidomine 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 Molsidomine 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 Molsidomine

In research: Molsidomine 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 Molsidomine 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: Molsidomine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 4-Morpholinyl compounds, Carbamates, Ethyl esters, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Molsidomine 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 Molsidomine in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Molsidomine 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 Molsidomine out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Molsidomine in simple terms?

Why does Molsidomine 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 Molsidomine?

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 Molsidomine.