chemistry

Prilocaine

Prilocaine 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 Prilocaine rather than just read about it. In short: Prilocaine () is a local anesthetic of the amino amide type first prepared by Claes Tegner and Nils Löfgren. In its injectable form (trade name Citanest), it is often used in dentistry.

Key takeaways

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

Reference excerpt

Prilocaine () is a local anesthetic of the amino amide type first prepared by Claes Tegner and Nils Löfgren. In its injectable form (trade name Citanest), it is often used in dentistry. It is also often combined with lidocaine as a topical preparation for dermal anesthesia (lidocaine/prilocaine or EMLA), for treatment of conditions like paresthesia. As it has low cardiac toxicity, it is commonly used for intravenous regional anaesthesia (IVRA).

Contraindications In some patients, ortho-toluidine, a metabolite of prilocaine, may cause methemoglobinemia, which may be treated with methylene blue. Prilocaine may also be contraindicated in people with sickle cell anemia, anemia, or symptomatic hypoxia.

Combinations It is given as a combination with the vasoconstrictor epinephrine under the trade name Citanest Forte. It is used as a eutectic mixture with lidocaine, 50% w/w, as lidocaine/prilocaine. The mixture is an oil with a melting point of 18 °C (64 °F). A 5% emulsion preparation, containing 2.5% each of lidocaine/prilocaine, is marketed by APP Pharmaceuticals under the trade name EMLA (an abbreviation for eutectic mixture of local anesthetics).

Compendial status United States Pharmacopeia 31

Synthesis

The amidation between o-toluidine [95-53-4] (1) and 2-bromopropionyl bromide [563-76-8] (2) leads to 2-bromo-N-(2-methylphenyl)propanamide [19397-79-6] (3). Displacement of the remaining halide with propylamine [107-10-8] (4) completed the synthesis of prilocaine (5).

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Prilocaine

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

In research: Prilocaine 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 Prilocaine 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: Prilocaine is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amino acid derivatives, Anilides, Drugs developed by AstraZeneca, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Prilocaine 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 Prilocaine in 20 minutes

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

Frequently asked questions

What is Prilocaine in simple terms?

Prilocaine () is a local anesthetic of the amino amide type first prepared by Claes Tegner and Nils Löfgren. In its injectable form (trade name Citanest), it is often used in dentistry.

Why does Prilocaine 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 Prilocaine?

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 Prilocaine.