desmethylclozapine desmethylclozapine n-desmethylclozapine (ndmc), or norclozapine, is a major active metabolite of the atypical antipsychotic drug clozapine. unlike clozapine, it possesses intrinsic activity at the d2/d3 receptors, and acts as a weak partial agonist at these sites similarly to aripiprazole and bifeprunox. notably, ndmc has also been shown to act as a potent and efficacious agonist at the m1 and δ-opioid receptors, unlike clozapine as well. it was hypothesized that on account of these unique actions, ndmc might underlie the clinical superiority of clozapine over other antipsychotics. however, clinical trials found nmdc itself ineffective in the treatment of schizophrenia. this may be because it possesses relatively low d2/d3 occupancy compared to 5-ht2 (<15% versus 64-79% at a dose of 10–60 mg/kg s.c. in animal studies). albeit not useful in the treatment of positive symptoms on its own, it cannot be ruled out that ndmc may contribute to the efficacy of clozapine on cognitive and/or negative symptoms. desmethylclozapineclinical dataroutes ofadministrationoralatc codenonelegal statuslegal status in general: uncontrolled identifiers iupac name 8-chloro-11-piperazin-1-yl-5h-dibenzodiazepine cas number6104-71-8pubchem cid2820iuphar/bps333chemspider14126465unii1i9001lwy8chemblchembl845comptox dashboard (epa)dtxsid0042616 echa infocard100.164.220 chemical and physical dataformulac17h17cln4molar mass312.80 g·mol−13d model (jsmol)interactive image smiles clc1ccc2nc4ccccc4c(=n\c2c1)/n3ccncc3