Final answer:
The amide drug from the list provided is mepivacaine. Amides have a characteristic carbonyl group bonded to a nitrogen atom, which mepivacaine possesses, distinguishing it from the other options listed, which include esters and an alkaloid. The correct option is B .
Step-by-step explanation:
The student has asked which of the following drugs is an amide: procaine, mepivacaine, propoxycaine, or cocaine. The correct answer is mepivacaine. An amide is a type of chemical compound that has a carbonyl group (C=O) bonded to a nitrogen atom (N).
It is important to understand the basic structure of amides to identify them among other compounds. The general structure of an amide can be represented as R1CONR2R3, where R1 can be a hydrogen atom or an alkyl group, and R2 and R3 can be hydrogen atoms or organic substituents. The presence of the C=O (carbonyl) group bonded to a nitrogen is what differentiates amides from amines, which have no such carbonyl group.
Let's briefly discuss each of the options:
- Procaine is an ester, not an amide. It is synthesized from p-aminobenzoic acid and 2-diethylaminoethanol, which means its structure includes an ester linkage (-COO-) rather than an amide bond (-CON-).
- Mepivacaine is an amide-type local anesthetic. It contains the amide linkage within its molecular structure, conforming to the amide general structure mentioned earlier.
- Propoxycaine is another ester, similar in function to procaine but with different substituents.
- Cocaine is an alkaloid, not an amide. Its structure does not include the amide functional group.
Therefore, mepivacaine is the only drug in the list that is categorized as an amide. Understanding the difference between amides and amines, as well as other functional groups, is critical for pharmacology and chemistry. Amides, including drugs like mepivacaine, show a wide range of medical applications due to their chemical properties, which can lead to improved pharmaceutical properties of already marketed compounds, such as the prodrugs valacyclovir and valganciclovir, or the development of new chemical entities like brivanib alaninate and LY354740.