Menu
Home
People
Places
Arts
History
Plants & Animals
Science
Life & Culture
Technology
Reference.org
Ethyl nitrite
open-in-new
<h2 id="uses">Uses</h2> <p>It is used as a reagent with <a href="/facts/Butanone/kMEw9hTq">butanone</a> to yield the <a href="/facts/Dimethylglyoxime/HAMrxNWn">dimethylglyoxime</a> end product. </p> <p>Ethyl nitrite is the main ingredient in a traditional ethanol-based South African remedy for colds and flu known as <i>Witdulsies</i>, which is sold in pharmacies. It is known as a traditional Afrikaans remedy; the same remedy is apparently made by the <a href="/facts/Amish/5MX4wRT3">Amish</a> in the US. However, FDA has blocked over-the-counter sales of this same remedy, known in the US as <i>sweet nitrite</i> or <i>sweet spirit of nitre</i>, since 1980.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> Its use has been associated with fatal <a href="/facts/Methemoglobinemia/UK2NhkuM">methemoglobinemia</a>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> </p><p><a href="/facts/Methemoglobinemia/UK2NhkuM">Methemoglobinemia</a> is the primary toxic effect of ethyl nitrite.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> Due to ethyl nitrite's high volatility and faint smell, in the presence of ethyl nitrite vapors, it is easy to breathe a high dose of it without realizing, resulting in methemoglobinemia,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> <a href="/facts/Methemoglobinemia/UK2NhkuM">which may or may not be severe, or even fatal</a>. </p> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://webbook.nist.gov/cgi/cbook.cgi?ID=C109955&Units=SI">WebBook page for ethyl nitrite</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Semon, W. L.; Damerell, V. R. (1943). "Dimethylglyoxime". Organic Syntheses; Collected Volumes, vol. 2, p. 204. <a href="http://www.orgsyn.org/demo.aspx?prep=cv2p0204" target="_blank">http://www.orgsyn.org/demo.aspx?prep=cv2p0204</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>"Rulemaking History for OTC Sweet Spirits of Nitre Drug Products". fda.gov. Retrieved 2016-12-26. <a href="https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/DevelopmentResources/Over-the-CounterOTCDrugs/StatusofOTCRulemakings/ucm072140.htm" target="_blank">https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DevelopmentApprovalProcess/DevelopmentResources/Over-the-CounterOTCDrugs/StatusofOTCRulemakings/ucm072140.htm</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>"ETHYL NITRITE - National Library of Medicine HSDB Database". toxnet.nlm.nih.gov. Retrieved 2017-11-18. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-11-18.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) <a href="https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+416" target="_blank">https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+416</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>"Ethyl nitrite". Haz-Map. Retrieved 2020-08-08. <a href="https://www.haz-map.com/Agents/1476" target="_blank">https://www.haz-map.com/Agents/1476</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Titov, V Yu; Petrenko, Yu M (2005). "Proposed mechanism of nitrite-induced methemoglobinemia". Biochemistry (Moscow). 70 (4): 473–83. doi:10.1007/s10541-005-0139-7. PMID 15892615. S2CID 22906218. <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15892615/" target="_blank">https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15892615/</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>