Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Dimercaprol

Dimercaprol is a chelating (KEE-late-ing) agent. A chelating agent is capable of removing a heavy metal, such as lead or mercury, from the blood.

Dimercaprol is used to treat poisoning with arsenic, gold, or mercury. It is also used together with another medication called edetate disodium (EDTA) to treat lead poisoning.

Dimercaprol is prepared by the bromination of allyl alcohol to glycerol di-bromine-hydrine followed by reaction with sodium hydrosulfide under pressure. It can also be prepared by hydrogenizing hydroxide propylene trisulfide .

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