Zaleplon

Category: pharmacological

Aliases: Sonata, Starnoc

Pharmacological Mechanism

Z-drug pyrazolopyrimidine — positive allosteric modulator at GABA-A BZD site, selective for α1 subunit. Used for sleep onset (very short t½ ~1 h limits middle-of-night dosing risk). Mostly metabolized by aldehyde oxidase + CYP3A4. Rapid absorption.

Half-Life (t½)

PO: 1.05h

Dosing Guidelines

• PO: Typical 10 mg (Range: 5–20 mg)

Target Organ Systems

• nervous

Pathways It Modulates

• GABA-A receptor signaling (activator) — α1-selective BZD site (Z-drug)

Chemical Identifiers

• PubChem CID: 5719
• Formula: C17H15N5O
• Molecular weight: 305.34 g/mol
• InChIKey: HUNXMJYCHXQEGX-UHFFFAOYSA-N
• SMILES: CCN(C1=CC=CC(=C1)C2=CC=NC3=C(C=NN23)C#N)C(=O)C

References

• PMID 12122506