Phenolic metabolite, 2-ethyl-2(4-hydroxphenyl)-glutarimide in human urine following chronic ingestion of glutethimide (Doriden).

Urine samples from comatose patients, identified as having taken large amounts of the drug, glutethimide, were analyzed using gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, thin layer chromatography, and nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometry in order to identify metabolites of the parent drug. The phenolic compound 2-ethyl-2-(4-hydroxphenyl)-glutarimide was fully characterized as a new metabolite in human urine. Also 2-ethyl-2-(3-methoxy-4hydroxyphenyl)-glutarimide was proposed as a new metabolite of the parent drug. Other polar metabolites of the parent drug were also detected and partially characterized.