Nitromethaqualone
Encyclopedia
Nitromethaqualone is an analogue of methaqualone
Methaqualone
Methaqualone is a sedative-hypnotic drug that is similar in effect to barbiturates, a general central nervous system depressant. The sedative-hypnotic activity was first noted by Indian researchers in the 1950s and in 1962 methaqualone itself was patented in the US by Wallace and Tiernan...

 which has similar sedative
Sedative
A sedative or tranquilizer is a substance that induces sedation by reducing irritability or excitement....

 and hypnotic
Hypnotic
Hypnotic drugs are a class of psychoactives whose primary function is to induce sleep and to be used in the treatment of insomnia and in surgical anesthesia...

 properties.
It is significantly more potent (10x) compared to the parent compound; the typical dose is approximately 25 mg. However the aromatic nitro group is metabolised to the corresponding aniline which proved to be a mutagen
Mutagen
In genetics, a mutagen is a physical or chemical agent that changes the genetic material, usually DNA, of an organism and thus increases the frequency of mutations above the natural background level. As many mutations cause cancer, mutagens are therefore also likely to be carcinogens...

, and consequently nitromethaqualone was not developed further due to toxicity concerns.
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