Abstract
It has been demonstrated that organic compounds which are related spatially as to the arrangement of the carbon atoms about a nonspecific central nucleus have similar pharmacological activities. Onium compounds formed about such atoms as nitrogen, sulphur, arsenic, phosphorus and antimony have properties best represented by the most active member of this group, acetyl choline (Dale and Burn, 1 Hunt 2 ). Erlenmeyer and Berger 3 demonstrated the immunological equivalence between = O, =NH, and =CH, in certain “determinant groups.” There is also a probability that the amino group in the so-called sympathomimetic amines can be replaced by -Cl, (Mulinos and Osborne 4 ).
The present study is concerned with a compound in which the =O group in the urea molecule of pentobarbital has been replaced by sulphur. The new compound possesses much of the action of the barbiturate. We report here a comparison between the 2 drugs, with the intention of emphasizing the increasing importance played by the spatial arrangement of atoms, as distinguished from the specific pharmacodynamic power of the individual elements constituting the compound.
Pentothal-sodium, Abbott No. 8060, is an amorphous, greenish white powder, having a strong sulphurous odor. It dissolves readily in water, to form a 10% solution, which has a distinctly green color, and a very disagreeable odor. The sulphurous odor diminished rapidly, to become almost imperceptible within a week, during which time the solution seemed to have lost but little of its potency. The 10% solution is strongly alkaline to litmus, it has a pH of 10.6, and forms precipitates with acids, and salts of silver.
Our experiments were performed upon rats and cats. Studies on respiratory exchange were performed on urethanized rabbits.
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