title: Chemical structure and properties of midazolam compared with other benzodiazepines.
abstract: A short review is given of the basic chemical development in the field of 'classical' and 'annelated' benzodiazepines, distinguishing between pro-drugs and directly acting compounds. Some properties of midazolam that are of special interest for its practical use are discussed, such as: the basicity of its imidazole ring nitrogen, which allows water-soluble salts and well-tolerated aqueous injectable solutions to be prepared; its stability to hydrolytic degradation; its rapid metabolic inactivation, which is mainly determined by the methyl group on the imidazole ring, and which is much faster than that of classical benzodiazepines.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents / Q000378:metabolism; D001569:Benzodiazepines / Q000378:metabolism; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D006801:Humans; D008874:Midazolam; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000378:metabolism; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship
chemical_list: D014151:Anti-Anxiety Agents; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A; D001569:Benzodiazepines; D008874:Midazolam