Midodrine is a vasopressor/antihypotensive agent (it raises the blood pressure). Midodrine was approved in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1996 for the treatment of dysautonomia and orthostatic hypotension. In August 2010, the FDA proposed withdrawing this approval because the manufacturer, Shire plc, failed to complete required studies after the medicine reached the market. In September 2010, the FDA reversed its decision to remove midodrine from the market and allowed it to remain available to patients while Shire plc collected further data regarding the efficacy and safety of the drug. Shire announced on September 22, 2011, that it was withdrawing completely from supplying midodrine and leaving it to several generics to supply the drug. Medical uses
Midodrine is indicated for the treatment of symptomatic orthostatic hypotension. It can reduce dizziness and faints by about a third, but can be limited by troublesome goose bumps, skin itch, gastrointestinal discomfort, chills, elevated blood pressure while lying down, and urinary retention. A meta-analysis of clinical trials of midodrine or droxidopa in patients with low blood pressure when standing found that midodrine increased standing blood pressure more than droxidopa but that midodrine but not droxidopa increased the risk of high blood pressure when lying down. Small studies have also shown that midodrine can be used to prevent excessive drops in blood pressure in people requiring dialysis.Midodrine has been used in the complications of cirrhosis.
Stereochemistry
Midodrine contains a stereocenter and consists of two enantiomers, making it a racemate; i.e., a 1:1 mixture of (R)- and (S)-forms:

Synthesis
Acylation of 1,4-dimethoxybenzene with chloroacetyl chloride gives the chloroketone 2. The halogen is then converted to the amine 3 by any set of standard schemes, and the ketone reduced to an alcohol with borohydride (4). Acylation of the amino group in this last intermediate with chloroacetyl chloride affords the amide 5. The halogen is then displaced with azide and the resulting product 6 reduced catalytically to the glycinamide, midodrine (7). References
External links
 Media related to Midodrine at Wikimedia Commons

"Midodrine". Drug Information Portal. U.S. National Library of Medicine.