Chloral Hydrate 500 mg/5 mL Suppliers & Bulk Manufacturers

Available Forms: Oral solution

Available Strengths: 500 mg/5 mL

Reference Brands: Welldorm Elixir (EU/UK)

Category: Neurology

Chloral Hydrate is a non-benzodiazepine sedative and hypnotic used for the short-term treatment of severe insomnia when other therapies are ineffective. It works by being metabolized to trichloroethanol, which enhances GABA activity in the central nervous system, producing sedation and promoting sleep. It is typically administered as an oral solution.

Product Description:

Chloral hydrate is one of the oldest synthetic sedatives, in use since the 1860s. It is a prodrug: alcohol dehydrogenase rapidly reduces it to trichloroethanol, which acts at the GABA-A receptor much like a barbiturate. Its surviving role is paediatric sedation for painless procedures such as EEG and imaging, and short-term treatment of severe insomnia where other options have failed.

It has a narrow margin between sedative and toxic doses. Overdose causes cardiac arrhythmias — trichloroethanol sensitises the myocardium to catecholamines — together with respiratory depression and gastric irritation. Ethanol and chloral hydrate inhibit each other's metabolism, which is the pharmacology behind the historic "Mickey Finn". Tolerance develops within about two weeks, so it is not a long-term hypnotic, and it is corrosive to mucosa unless diluted.

Sourcing notes. Regulatory status varies more than for almost any other sedative. In the US unapproved chloral hydrate products were removed from the market in 2012 and it is a Schedule IV controlled substance; in the UK it remains available for paediatric sedation, largely as an oral solution. Several markets supply it only as an extemporaneous or specials product. The solution is bitter and irritant, so flavouring and dilution form part of the specification, and chloral hydrate raw material itself is controlled in some jurisdictions.