Gitoformate (

INN Inns are generally establishments or buildings where travelers can seek lodging, and usually, food and drink. Inns are typically located in the country or along a highway; before the advent of motorized transportation they also provided accommo ...

, or pentaformylgitoxin, trade name Dynocard) is a cardiac glycoside, a type of drug that can be used in the treatment of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

and

cardiac arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, heart arrhythmias, or dysrhythmias, are irregularities in the heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. A resting heart rate that is too fast – above 100 beats per minute in adults ...

(irregular heartbeat). Produced by Madaus, it is not available in the US, and does not seem to be available in Europe either.

Chemistry

Gitoformate is a derivative of the

glycoside In chemistry, a glycoside is a molecule in which a sugar is bound to another functional group via a glycosidic bond. Glycosides play numerous important roles in living organisms. Many plants store chemicals in the form of inactive glycosides. ...

gitoxin, with five of the six free

hydroxyl In chemistry, a hydroxy or hydroxyl group is a functional group with the chemical formula and composed of one oxygen atom covalently bonded to one hydrogen atom. In organic chemistry, alcohols and carboxylic acids contain one or more hydroxy ...

groups formylated, one on the

aglycon An aglycone (aglycon or genin) is the compound remaining after the glycosyl group on a glycoside is replaced by a hydrogen atom. For example, the aglycone of a cardiac glycoside Cardiac glycosides are a class of organic compounds that increase ...

and four on the sugar. Gitoxin, a cardiac glycoside from the woolly foxglove (''Digitalis lanata''), has an aglycon of the cardenolide type named gitoxigenin, which is also the aglycon of lanatoside B, another ''Digitalis lanata'' glycoside.

References

Cardenolides Formate esters Tertiary alcohols {{cardiovascular-drug-stub