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New metabolites of imipramine

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Summary

  1. 1.

    Urine and plasma extracts from patients taking imipramine or desmethylimipramine (D.M.I.) contain substances which become strongly yellow-green fluorescent in ultraviolet light after treatment with strong acid.

  2. 2.

    Some of these substances behave like 10-hydroxy iminodibenzyl derivatives in their extractability by heptane, behaviour in three solvents on thin-layer chromatography, colour staining, and reaction with acetic anhydride. They display, on further chromatography after acid treatment, a characteristic pattern of fluorescent degradation products.

  3. 3.

    10-hydroxy desmethylimipramine, 10 hydroxy imipramine, 10-hydroxy didesmethylimipramine, and possibly 10-hydroxy iminodibenzyl, have been provisionally identified, and may occur also as glucuronides. 10-hydroxylation appears to be a separate metabolic pathway distinct from 2-hydroxylation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. St. John's Hospital, Stone, Aylesbury, Bucks.

    J. L. Crammer & Bernard Scott

Authors
  1. J. L. Crammer
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  2. Bernard Scott
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Additional information

This work is supported by a grant from the Medical Research Council. We are very grateful to Dr. Cyril Maxwell and to Dr. H. A. Prins of J. R. Geigy A.G. (Basel) for the gift of reference substances and much useful information.

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Crammer, J.L., Scott, B. New metabolites of imipramine. Psychopharmacologia 8, 461–468 (1966). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406495

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00406495

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