bemegride bemegride bemegride (trademarked as megimide) is a central nervous system stimulant. the drug was first made in 1911. it has been used in hypnotic overdose. bemegrideclinical datatrade namesmigimide, othersother namesmethetharimideβ,β-methylethylglutarimideahfs/drugs.cominternational drug namesatc coder07ab05 (who) legal statuslegal status au: s4 (prescription only) identifiers iupac name 4-ethyl-4-methylpiperidine-2,6-dione cas number64-65-3 ypubchem cid2310chemspider2220 yunii57dqa39do2keggd01957 ychemblchembl1214192 ycomptox dashboard (epa)dtxsid0045250 echa infocard100.000.535 chemical and physical dataformulac8h13no2molar mass155.197 g·mol−13d model (jsmol)interactive imagemelting point127 °c (261 °f) smiles o=c1nc(=o)cc(cc)(c1)c inchi inchi=1s/c8h13no2/c1-3-8(2)4-6(10)9-7(11)5-8/h3-5h2,1-2h3,(h,9,10,11) ykey:orrzgubhbvwwop-uhfffaoysa-n y (verify) as with other chemoreceptor agonists, it is a potent emetic at doses above those normally used in management of barbiturate overdose although emesis and aspiration are a concern during treatment. it is a controlled substance in some countries. animal use bemegride is also used to induce convulsions in experimental animals. synthesis bemegride synthesis: the original synthesis involves first the condensation of methylethylketone with two equivalents of cyanoacetamide. the product can be rationalized by assuming first aldol condensation of ketone and active methylene compound followed by dehydration to give 3. conjugate addition of a second molecule of cyanoacetamide would afford 4. addition of one of the amide amines to the nitrile would then afford the iminonitrile 5. the observed product 6 can be rationalized by assuming loss of the carboxamide under strongly basic conditions. decarboxylative hydrolysis of 6 then leads to bemegride 7. john bodkin adams case bemegride was the drug which suspected serial killer dr john bodkin adams who failed to prescribe correctly to his patient gertrude hullett. hullett took an overdose of barbiturates on 19 july 1956 but adams only gave her a single 10cc dose of bemegride three days later on the 22nd, despite having acquired 100cc for her treatment. hullett died the next day on 23 july 1956. adams was charged but never tried for her murder.