{"id":"mercuric-chloride","rwe":[],"tags":[{"label":"mercuric chloride","category":"class"},{"label":"Small Molecule","category":"modality"},{"label":"D08AK03","category":"atc"},{"label":"Active","category":"status"},{"label":"Anti-Infective Agents","category":"pharmacology"},{"label":"Anti-Infective Agents, Local","category":"pharmacology"},{"label":"Disinfectants","category":"pharmacology"}],"phase":"unknown","safety":{"safetySignals":[{"llr":23.968,"date":"","count":29,"signal":"Product dose omission issue","source":"DrugCentral FAERS","actionTaken":"Reported 29 times (LLR=24)"}],"commonSideEffects":[{"effect":"Product dose omission issue","drugRate":"LLR 24","severity":"common"}]},"trials":[],"aliases":[],"patents":[],"pricing":[],"allNames":"mercury dichloride","offLabel":[],"synonyms":["mercuric chloride","mercuric bichloride","mercury dichloride"],"timeline":[],"approvals":[],"brandName":"Mercury Dichloride","ecosystem":[],"mechanism":{"modality":"Small Molecule","drugClass":"mercuric chloride","explanation":"Imagine mercury dichloride as a chemical disruptor that interferes with the normal functioning of cells. It does this by binding to and damaging enzymes and proteins, which are essential for various cellular processes. This disruption can lead to cell death and potentially treat certain conditions, but it also poses significant risks to the body.","oneSentence":"Mercury dichloride is thought to work by disrupting cellular processes through its toxic effects on enzymes and proteins.","technicalDetail":"Mercury dichloride exerts its effects through the formation of covalent bonds with thiol groups on enzymes and proteins, leading to their inactivation and subsequent disruption of cellular processes."},"_wikipedia":{"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury(II)_chloride","title":"Mercury(II) chloride","extract":"Mercury(II) chloride (mercury bichloride, mercury dichloride, mercuric chloride), historically also sulema or corrosive sublimate, is the inorganic chemical compound of mercury and chlorine with the formula HgCl2, used as a laboratory reagent. It is a white crystalline solid and a molecular compound that is very toxic to humans. Once used as a first line treatment for syphilis, it has been replaced by the more effective and less toxic procaine penicillin since at least 1948.","wiki_history":"==History==\n===Discovery of the mineral acids===\nAround 900, the authors of the Arabic writings attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latin: Geber) and the Persian physician and alchemist Abu Bakr al-Razi (Latin: Rhazes) were experimenting with sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride), which when it was distilled together with vitriol (hydrated sulfates of various metals) produced hydrogen chloride. It is possible that in one of his experiments, al-Razi stumbled upon a primitive method to produce hydrochloric acid. However, it appears that in most of these early experiments with chloride salts, the gaseous products were discarded, and hydrogen chloride may have been produced many times before it was discovered that it can be put to chemical use.\n\nOne of the first such uses of hydrogen chloride was in the synthesis of mercury(II) chloride (corrosive sublimate), whose production from the heating of mercury either with alum and ammonium chloride or with vitriol and sodium chloride was first described in the  (\"On Alums and Salts\"). This eleventh- or twelfth-century Arabic alchemical text is anonymous in most manuscripts, though some manuscripts attribute it to Hermes Trismegistus, and a few falsely attribute it to Abu Bakr al-Razi. It was translated into Hebrew and two times into Latin, with one Latin translation by .\n\nIn the process described in the , hydrochloric acid started to form, but it immediately reacted with the mercury to produce mercury(II) chloride. Thirteenth-century Latin alchemists, for whom the  was one of the main reference works, were fascinated by the chlorinating properties of mercury(II) chloride, and they eventually discovered that when the metals are eliminated from the process of heating vitriols, alums, and salts, strong mineral acids can directly be distilled.\n\n===Historical use in photography===\nMercury(II) chloride was used as a photographic intensifier to produce positive pictures in the collodion process of the 1800s. When applied to a negative, the me"},"commercial":{},"references":[{"id":1,"url":"https://drugcentral.org/drugcard/4787","fields":["approvals","synonyms","ATC","PK","indications","contraindications","DDIs","targets","patents","FAERS"],"source":"DrugCentral"},{"id":2,"url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=mercuric chloride","fields":["publications"],"source":"PubMed/NCBI"},{"id":3,"url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury(II)_chloride","fields":["history","overview"],"source":"Wikipedia"}],"_enrichedAt":"2026-03-30T15:06:45.859180","biosimilars":[],"competitors":[],"genericName":"mercuric chloride","indications":{"approved":[],"offLabel":[],"pipeline":[]},"drugCategory":"active","labelChanges":[],"relatedDrugs":[],"trialDetails":[],"genericFilers":[],"latestUpdates":[],"manufacturing":[],"crossReferences":{"NUI":"N0000185024","MMSL":"NOCODE","NDDF":"003122","UNII":"53GH7MZT1R","VUID":"4031521","CHEBI":"CHEBI:31823","VANDF":"4031521","RXNORM":"1311634","UMLSCUI":"C0025417","ChEMBL_ID":"CHEMBL1374360","KEGG_DRUG":"D01905","DRUGBANK_ID":"DB13765","PUBCHEM_CID":"24085","SNOMEDCT_US":"11496005","MESH_DESCRIPTOR_UI":"D008627"},"formularyStatus":[],"_enricherVersion":"v2","developmentCodes":[],"ownershipHistory":[],"publicationCount":2660,"therapeuticAreas":["Other"],"atcClassification":{"source":"DrugCentral","atcCode":"D08AK03","allCodes":["D08AK03"]},"biosimilarFilings":[],"recentPublications":[],"companionDiagnostics":[],"genericManufacturerList":[],"status":"active","companyName":"","companyId":"unknown","modality":"Small Molecule","firstApprovalDate":"","aiSummary":"Mercury dichloride, also known as mercuric chloride, is a white crystalline solid with the formula HgCl2 and is used as a laboratory reagent. It is a highly toxic compound that was historically used as a treatment for syphilis, but has since been replaced by other medications.","enrichmentLevel":3,"visitCount":0,"trialStats":{"total":0,"withResults":0},"verificationStatus":"partial","dataCompleteness":{"mechanism":true,"indications":false,"safety":true,"trials":false,"score":2}}