{"id":3896,"date":"2022-09-04T07:36:03","date_gmt":"2022-09-04T05:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modafinil.pl\/?post_type=product&p=3896"},"modified":"2026-10-06T13:02:39","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T11:02:39","slug":"modafinil","status":"publish","type":"product","link":"https:\/\/modafinil.pl\/en\/sklep\/modafinil\/","title":{"rendered":"Modafinil (CAS 68693-11-8) \u2014 Chemical Reagent, 1000 mg, Purity \u2265 99%"},"content":{"rendered":"

2-[(diphenylmethyl)sulfinyl]acetamide<\/strong>, crystalline powder, 1000 mg package. Material intended exclusively for laboratory and analytical in vitro research<\/strong>. The product is not intended for human or animal consumption<\/strong>, and is not a medicinal product, dietary supplement, foodstuff, or cosmetic.<\/p>\n

Three Different Entities That Must Not Be Confused<\/h2>\n

With this molecule, separating the layers matters more than with any other item in our catalog, because the same chemical name simultaneously functions as the active ingredient of a prescription-only medicinal product<\/strong>. Three contexts, three entirely different legal statuses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Separating the layers: substance \u2014 medicinal product \u2014 reagent<\/caption>\n
Entity<\/th>\nWhat it is<\/th>\nWhat it concerns<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Chemical substance
modafinil, CAS 68693-11-8<\/th>\n		A chemical concept \u2014 a molecule with a defined structure. On its own it is neither a drug nor a reagent; its status is conferred by the form in which it was manufactured and approved.<\/td>\nchemistry, substance registries<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Medicinal product
e.g. Provigil, Modiodal<\/th>\n		A pharmaceutical preparation: a defined pharmaceutical form, manufacturing under GMP, registration documentation, safety surveillance. In Poland, dispensed only on medical prescription.<\/strong><\/td>\nthis is the entity that clinical trials in humans concern<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chemical reagent
the material offered here<\/th>\n		A material for laboratory and analytical work. It does not have, and cannot have, approval for use in humans or animals<\/strong> \u2014 it has no pharmaceutical form and no medicinal product documentation.<\/td>\nanalytics, chemistry, reference standards<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The consequence is unambiguous.<\/strong> The study results cited further on this page were obtained either using a registered medicinal product<\/strong> (clinical trials in humans), or using the substance administered to laboratory animals under controlled experimental conditions<\/strong> (preclinical studies). None of these studies was conducted using the analytical reagent<\/strong>, and none of these results carries over to the material offered here. The reagent is not the form in which the substance was ever tested in humans, and it cannot be used in that way.<\/p>\n

Reagent Identification Card<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Registry data and identifiers \u2014 modafinil<\/caption>\n
Systematic name (IUPAC)<\/th>\n2-[(diphenylmethyl)sulfinyl]acetamide<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Common name<\/th>\nmodafinil<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
CAS number<\/th>\n68693-11-8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Molecular formula<\/th>\nC15<\/sub>H15<\/sub>NO2<\/sub>S<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Molar mass<\/th>\n273.35 g\u00b7mol\u22121<\/sup><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
InChIKey<\/th>\nYFGHCGITMMYXAQ-UHFFFAOYSA-N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
SMILES<\/th>\nC1=CC=C(C=C1)C(C2=CC=CC=C2)S(=O)CC(=O)N<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
PubChem CID<\/th>\n4236<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Form<\/th>\ncrystalline powder, white to off-white<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Purity<\/th>\n\u2265 99%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Intended use<\/th>\nresearch reagent \u2014 not for human or animal consumption<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Molecular Lineage: The French Benzhydrylsulfinyl Line<\/h2>\n

Modafinil was not designed as a molecule from scratch. It is the second link<\/strong> in a short research lineage that developed in France during the 1970s and 1980s, in the laboratories of the Lafon company. The starting point was adrafinil<\/strong> \u2014 a compound with the same benzhydrylsulfinyl core, differing only in the terminal group: instead of an amide, it carried a hydroxamic group.<\/p>\n

From Adrafinil to Modafinil<\/h3>\n

The key discovery was that adrafinil is converted into modafinil<\/strong> in the body \u2014 meaning that the activity attributed to the first compound largely originates from its metabolite. This precursor-metabolite relationship is still used today in analytical practice: detecting modafinil in a sample does not by itself establish whether modafinil or adrafinil was administered, which is why laboratories assay both compounds in parallel. This is illustrated by the work of Ameline and colleagues on the identification of adrafinil and its metabolite in hair [7<\/a>], as well as the earlier screening method of Dubey and colleagues covering modafinil, adrafinil, and their metabolites simultaneously [8<\/a>].<\/p>\n

The Core That Defines the Whole Family<\/h3>\n

The common element of the family is the benzhydrylsulfinyl moiety<\/strong>: two phenyl rings attached to a single carbon atom, which in turn is bonded to a sulfur atom at the sulfoxide oxidation level. Modifications within this family consist of substituting the rings or replacing the amide terminus \u2014 and this is exactly the kind of modification represented by the separately offered flmodafinil<\/a>, in which both rings carry a fluorine atom in the para position.<\/p>\n

Early French pharmacological work on this core dates back to the 1980s \u2014 one example is the 1987 study by Chariot and colleagues, comparing modafinil with its derivatives in a rat pancreatic secretion model [5<\/a>]. For readers seeking historical context, it is worth noting that the literature from this period is largely French-language and indexed under translated titles.<\/p>\n

Timeline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Timeline: the molecule\u2019s origin and spread<\/caption>\n
1970s<\/th>\nwork on benzhydrylsulfinyl derivatives in the Lafon laboratories (France); adrafinil is developed<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
late 1970s \/ early 1980s<\/th>\nmodafinil isolated as the active metabolite of adrafinil<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1980s<\/th>\nfirst indexed pharmacological studies on modafinil [5<\/a>]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1990s<\/th>\nregistration as a medicinal product in successive countries; entry into clinical practice for narcolepsy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1999\u20132005<\/th>\ndevelopment of analytical methods: GC-MS in urine [1<\/a>], LC-MS in equine urine [2<\/a>]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2008\u20132009<\/th>\nenantioselective methods separating the R and S forms [3<\/a>], determination of adrafinil by LC-ESI-MS [4<\/a>]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2021<\/th>\nmass spectrometry imaging in tissue \u2014 study published in Angewandte Chemie<\/em> [6<\/a>]<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Chemistry: The Sulfoxide and the Stereogenic Center at Sulfur<\/h2>\n

Why Sulfur, Not Carbon, Determines Chirality<\/h3>\n

The most interesting structural feature of this molecule is the sulfur atom<\/strong>. In the sulfoxide moiety, sulfur carries four different substituents \u2014 two bonds to the rest of the skeleton, an oxygen atom, and a lone electron pair \u2014 which makes it a stereogenic center<\/strong>. Modafinil therefore exists as a pair of enantiomers, and the commercial product is usually a racemic mixture. The R<\/em> enantiomer is known under a separate common name (armodafinil) and has its own CAS number.<\/p>\n

For the laboratory this has a practical consequence: a total (achiral) assay does not establish the enantiomeric ratio<\/strong>. That requires a chiral column and an enantioselective method \u2014 such an approach was described by Rao and colleagues for the adrafinil\/modafinil pair [3<\/a>]. If the material is meant to serve as a standard for distinguishing the R<\/em> and S<\/em> forms, a chemical-purity declaration alone is not sufficient.<\/p>\n

Physicochemical Characteristics<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Computed descriptors and their analytical significance<\/caption>\n
Parameter<\/th>\nValue<\/th>\nAnalytical implication<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Partition coefficient (XLogP)<\/th>\n\u2248 1.3<\/td>\nmoderate lipophilicity \u2014 elutes in the mid-range of an RP-HPLC gradient<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Topological polar surface area<\/th>\n71.7 \u00c52<\/sup><\/td>\nsubstantially higher than in cage hydrocarbons; affects retention<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hydrogen bond donors<\/th>\n1<\/td>\namide group \u2014 N\u2013H band in the infrared<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hydrogen bond acceptors<\/th>\n3<\/td>\nsulfoxide and amide oxygen<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Solubility<\/th>\ngood in DMSO and methanol; poor in water<\/td>\nprepare stock solutions in an organic solvent<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Why One Molecule Has Dozens of Names<\/h2>\n

More than twenty trade names are in circulation for preparations containing this active ingredient \u2014 among them Provigil, Modiodal, Modalert, Modvigil, Alertec, and Vigil. All of these denote medicinal products<\/strong>, manufactured under pharmaceutical regulations and subject to drug-trade rules \u2014 not chemical reagents. We list them solely so that a reader arriving here via one of those terms understands that this page does not concern any of these preparations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The unambiguous name, independent of commercial or legal context, remains the systematic IUPAC name and CAS number 68693-11-8.<\/p>\n

Laboratory Applications of the Reagent<\/h2>\n