Chlordiazepoxide(pronounced /ˌklɔərdaɪ.əzɨˈpɒksaɪd/), is a sedative/hypnotic drug and benzodiazepine. It is marketed under the trade names Angirex, Klopoxid, Librax (also contains clidinium bromide), Libritabs, Librium, Mesural, Multum, Novapam, Risolid, Silibrin, Sonimen and Tropium.
Chlordiazepoxide was the first benzodiazepine to be synthesised and the discovery of chlordiazepoxide was by pure chance. Chlordiazepoxide and other benzodiazepines were initially accepted with widespread public approval but were followed with widespread public disapproval and recommendations for more restrictive medical guidelines for its use.
Chlordiazepoxide has a medium to long half-life but its active metabolite has a very long half-life. The drug has amnestic, anxiolytic, hypnotic and skeletal muscle relaxant properties.
Chlordiazepoxide (initially called methaminodiazepoxide) was the first benzodiazepine to be synthesised in the mid-1950s. Chlordiazepoxide was synthesised from work on a chemical dye, quinazolone-3-oxides. It was discovered by accident when in 1957 tests revealed that the compound had hypnotic, anxiolytic and muscle relaxant effects. Three years later chlordiazepoxide was
xanax
A triazolobenzodiazepine agent with anxiolytic, sedative-hypnotic and anticonvulsant activities. Alprazolam binds to a specific site distinct from the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) binding site on the benzodiazepine-GABA-A-chloride ionophore receptor complex located in the limbic, thalamic and hypothalamic regions of the central nervous system (CNS). This binding causes an allosteric modification of the receptor and enhances the affinity of GABA to the receptor leading to an increase in the frequency of chloride-channel opening events. This leads to an increase in chloride ion conductance, neuronal hyperpolarization, inhibition of the action potential and leads to a decrease in neuronal excitability.
