Diclazepam, also known as 2-chlorodiazepam and chlorodiazepam, is classed in the benzodiazepam family, and is therefore a diazepam analogue.It was first synthesized by Leo Sternbach and his team at Hoffman-La Roche in 1960, but it was not pursued as a pharmaceutical product.Diclazepam dosage, efficacy or safety in humans has never been formally studied. In animals, however, it is known to have very similar effects to flubromazepam and diazepam itself. Its effects include working as an anticonvulsant and anxiolytic, a sedative, a hypnotic, an amnesiac and as a skeletal muscle relaxant. It may have adverse effects such as drowsiness, and cognitive impairments such as short term memory impairment.
Diclazepam has been assessed as having an elimination half-life of around 42 hours in most animals. In the body, it undergoes N-demethylation, resulting in the creation of delorazepam. The delorazepam can be detected in the subject’s urine for approximately six days. It also metabolises into lormetazepam (detectable for 19 days) and lorazepam (detectable for 11 days). This suggests that cytochrome P450 enzymes are also engaging in hydroxylation of the compound at the same time as the N-demethylation.
