Acetanilide

Acetanilide is an aromatic amide once used to relieve pain and reduce fever. It is now used mainly as an intermediate in chemical synthesis.

Antipyretic: A substance that lowers an elevated body temperature. Acetanilide was used to reduce fever before safer medicines replaced it.
Aniline: An aromatic amine consisting of a benzene ring bonded to an amino group. Acetanilide is formed by acetylating aniline’s amino group.
Friedlieb Ferdinand Runge: A German chemist known for discovering aniline and isolating caffeine and other compounds. Runge isolated aniline, the starting material used to make acetanilide.
Methemoglobin: Hemoglobin whose iron has been oxidized, preventing normal oxygen binding. Acetanilide can increase methemoglobin levels and impair oxygen delivery.
Analgesic: A substance that reduces pain without necessarily causing loss of consciousness. Acetanilide’s early medical use was chiefly as a pain reliever.
Acetylation: A chemical reaction that adds an acetyl group to a molecule. This reaction converts aniline into acetanilide.
Charles Gerhardt: A French chemist who developed methods for synthesizing organic compounds, including acetylated derivatives. Gerhardt prepared acetanilide in the nineteenth century through acetylation chemistry.
Hemolytic anemia: Anemia caused by red blood cells being destroyed faster than they are replaced. Acetanilide toxicity can damage red blood cells and contribute to anemia.
Paracetamol: A widely used analgesic and antipyretic also known as acetaminophen. Its discovery and development followed investigations into acetanilide-related compounds.
Amide: An organic functional group in which a carbonyl carbon is bonded to nitrogen. Acetanilide’s defining linkage is an amide bond.

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