Nitroglycerin

Nitroglycerin molecule

Nitroglycerin, also known as nitroglycerine (UK spelling), trinitroglycerin, trinitroglycerine, 1,2,3-trinitroxypropane and glyceryl trinitrate, is a heavy, colorless, oily, explosive liquid obtained by nitrating glycerol. It is very dangerous and easy to detonate. It was synthesized in 1847 by Italian chemist Ascanio Sobrero. In 1867Alfred Nobel used it to make dynamite which for years was one of the most-used explosives in the world.

Medical uses

Nitroglycerine is also used in some medicines because it is a vasodilator. This means it makes the blood vessels get wider. That makes it easier for blood to flow through them.

Nitroglycerine is used mostly for angina and some heart attacks caused by coronary artery disease.^[1] This is a disease that makes the blood vessels that bring blood to the heart become narrower. When the heart does not get enough blood and oxygen, a person can have angina (chest pain) or a heart attack. Taking nitroglycerine makes the blood vessels get wider again, so more blood and oxygen can get to the heart.^[1]

Nitroglycerin is sometimes used in emergencies for other medical conditions caused by narrow blood vessels.

References

1. "Nitroglycerine Sublingual". nlm.nih.gov. US. National Library of Medicine. October 15, 2015. Retrieved January 1, 2016.

Other websites

• Nitroglycerin Citizenduim