Comparative Studies on Hepatic N- and O-Demethylation

Oxidative dealkylation is an important step in the metabolism of various foreign compounds including a number of clinically useful drugs (1). Studies to establish a comparison between aromatic hydroxylation of aniline and side chain hydroxylation at methyl moiety of p-nitrotoluene (2) are further extended in the present report to other types of microsomal oxidative reactions, i.e., N- and O-demethylation, the two possible variations of hydroxylation (1).