What Is The Chemical Structure Of Aniracetam? A Research Reference

Written By: Neat Digital, Research Content Writer

Reviewed By: Natalie Kunsman, M.D., Board-Certified Physician

Last Reviewed: September 4, 2026

Research use disclaimer. Nordic Chems sells aniracetam as a laboratory material for research, analytical, and educational use only. It is not for human consumption. It is not a food, and it is not for any use in people or animals. What follows describes the molecule and how a lab confirms it, nothing more.

The chemical structure of aniracetam is a five-membered 2-pyrrolidinone ring joined through its nitrogen to a 4-methoxybenzoyl group, the fragment chemists call an anisoyl group. That structure gives the molecule the formula C12H13NO3 and a molecular weight of 219.24 g/mol. Its CAS number is 72432-10-1, and its PubChem CID is 2196.

Read this page the way a lab does. The structure below is not trivia. It is the fixed target every real batch has to match, and the thing your analytical methods measure against.

What Is The Chemical Structure Of Aniracetam?

Aniracetam is a synthetic member of the racetam family, built on a lactam ring with an aromatic group attached to the nitrogen.

The chemical structure of aniracetam is 1-(4-methoxybenzoyl)pyrrolidin-2-one: a 2-pyrrolidinone ring bonded at its nitrogen to a benzoyl carbonyl, with a methoxy group at the para position of the benzene ring. Its molecular formula is C12H13NO3, its molecular weight is 219.24 g/mol, and its CAS number is 72432-10-1.

That single sentence carries most of what a search engine or a lab notebook needs. The rest of this page shows where each number comes from and how you check it.

Aniracetam Identifiers And Physical Constants

Here are the identity values, cross-checked against the PubChem record for CID 2196 and confirmed by direct calculation from the structure.

Hoffmann-La Roche first made this molecule in the 1970s under the code Ro 13-5057. The InChIKey and SMILES matter more than they look. They are text strings that encode the exact structure, so a lab in Houston and a lab in Prague can confirm they are describing the same molecule with no ambiguity.

The Ring That Makes It A Racetam

Every racetam shares one piece: a 2-pyrrolidinone ring, also written as 2-oxopyrrolidine. It is a four-carbon, one-nitrogen ring with a carbonyl next to the nitrogen.

What sets aniracetam apart is what hangs off that nitrogen. Instead of a small polar side chain, aniracetam carries a 4-methoxybenzoyl group: a benzene ring with a methoxy (OCH3) group at the far end, attached through a carbonyl. That aromatic group is the reason aniracetam behaves so differently from the water-soluble racetams, and it is the part that gives the molecule its ultraviolet absorbance in the lab.

How Is Aniracetam Different From Piracetam?

They share the same ring and differ in one group. Piracetam is 2-(2-oxopyrrolidin-1-yl)acetamide, formula C6H10N2O2, weight 142.16 g/mol. It carries a small, polar acetamide side chain on the ring nitrogen. Aniracetam replaces that side chain with the aromatic methoxybenzoyl group.

That one swap changes the physical behavior. Piracetam dissolves readily in water. Aniracetam does not, because the aromatic group is lipophilic and the molecule has no free hydrogen-bond donors.

If you work with both, this difference decides your sample prep. You cannot dissolve aniracetam in water the way you would piracetam. Nordic stocks pramiracetam alongside aniracetam, and it sits at the other end of this range again, so treat each racetam's structure as its own handling problem.

Why Doesn't Aniracetam Dissolve In Water?

Because its structure is built for oil, not water. The methoxybenzoyl ring system is nonpolar, the molecule has zero hydrogen-bond donors, and its computed logP sits near 1.5. Those three facts add up to a lipophilic solid.

In practice, aniracetam is insoluble in water and dissolves in ethanol. Its polar surface area of 46.6 square angstroms is low. So for stock solutions, researchers reach for an organic solvent such as ethanol or DMSO rather than aqueous buffer. This is a direct read of the structure: the aromatic anisoyl group pushes the whole molecule away from water.

Appearance backs this up. Aniracetam is a white to off-white powder or crystalline solid with a melting range of 120 to 124°C. A sharp, narrow melt is itself a small purity signal, which brings us to verification.

How Do You Confirm Aniracetam's Structure In The Lab?

You confirm it with methods that read the structure, not with the label. Each feature of the molecule produces a measurable signal.

This is where a research supplier either earns trust or does not. Nordic Chems runs HPLC, mass spectrometry, and an LC-MS chromatogram with retention time and peak analysis on its material, through BioRegen Labs in Houston and Janoshik Analytical in Prague. The purity spec is 99%. Material that misses it is rejected and re-tested from another batch. Twenty batches have run through this testing so far, under an ISO 9001:2015 quality system (Certificate C2024-01140). Every certificate of analysis shows a batch number and a test date, and you can match your certificate to the exact batch you received by sending your order number.

Here is the part most reference pages skip. C12H13NO3 printed on a jar tells you what the material is supposed to be, not what it is. Two white powders can wear the same label and fail the same mass-spec check for different reasons. The structure only becomes verification when an instrument reads it back: the mass, the retention time, the peak. That is the line between a spec sheet and a real certificate of analysis, and it is worth asking any supplier to cross before you order.

Where Aniracetam's Structure Shows Up In Research

In the scientific literature, aniracetam is studied for how its structure interacts with the AMPA subtype of glutamate receptor. This is receptor-level, in-vitro work.

Research groups describe aniracetam as a positive allosteric modulator of AMPA receptors, acting at the flip/flop region of the receptor's ligand-binding domain. Isaacson and Nicoll reported in PNAS in 1991 that aniracetam reduces glutamate receptor desensitization and slows the decay of fast excitatory synaptic currents in hippocampal slices. Partin, Fleck, and Mayer, writing in the Journal of Neuroscience in 1996, traced part of that effect to a single residue at position 750 in the flip/flop cassette, where aniracetam slowed the onset of desensitization (a desensitization time constant near 31 milliseconds for one flop-like construct, against about 20 milliseconds for the flip form).

None of this describes an effect in a person. It describes how the molecule behaves at a receptor in laboratory preparations, which is the context researchers buy it for.

How To Store And Handle Aniracetam

Store it cool, dry, and tightly closed, with access limited to trained personnel. Keep the material sealed and desiccated, away from light and moisture. Nordic ships aniracetam induction-sealed and desiccated for this reason.

Handle it with standard laboratory personal protective equipment and follow the rules that apply to handling, storage, transport, and disposal where you work. Because aniracetam is water-insoluble and lipophilic, clean spills with an appropriate organic solvent rather than water.

How To Verify An Aniracetam Batch In 2026

Run the label against the structure. A quick 2026 checklist for anyone receiving research material:

Confirm the certificate of analysis carries a batch number and a test date. Check that the mass spectrum shows a parent ion near m/z 219, matching the 219.24 weight. Look for a single dominant peak on the HPLC or LC-MS chromatogram, not a cluster. Confirm the melting range lands at 120 to 124°C. Then match the certificate to your order number so the paperwork and the powder are the same batch. You can browse Nordic's other racetam research references for the same checks applied to related materials.

The reference standard, and what it can't tell you

The chemical structure of aniracetam has been settled since the 1970s: C12H13NO3, a 2-pyrrolidinone ring, an anisoyl group, a weight of 219.24. None of that is in dispute, and none of it shifts from one supplier to the next. What shifts is whether the white powder in a given jar actually matches that structure at the purity the label claims. A diagram cannot answer that. A mass spectrum can, and so can a retention time, a melting range, and a certificate that ties those numbers to the batch in your hands. So use the structure as your reference standard, then ask any source to show the analytical record that proves their material meets it. For research and analytical use only, and not for human consumption. Nordic Chems will match your certificate to your order number on request.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the chemical structure of aniracetam?

The chemical structure of aniracetam is 1-(4-methoxybenzoyl)pyrrolidin-2-one, a 2-pyrrolidinone ring joined at its nitrogen to a 4-methoxybenzoyl group. Its molecular formula is C12H13NO3 and its molecular weight is 219.24 g/mol.

What is the molecular formula and molecular weight of aniracetam?

Aniracetam's molecular formula is C12H13NO3 and its molecular weight is 219.24 g/mol. Its monoisotopic mass is 219.0895, which is the value a mass spectrometer reads as the parent ion.

How is aniracetam's structure different from piracetam?

Both share a 2-pyrrolidinone ring. Piracetam (C6H10N2O2, 142.16 g/mol) carries a polar acetamide side chain on the nitrogen, while aniracetam carries an aromatic 4-methoxybenzoyl group. That difference makes aniracetam lipophilic and water-insoluble, where piracetam is water-soluble.

Is aniracetam soluble in water?

No. Aniracetam is insoluble in water and dissolves in ethanol. Its aromatic anisoyl group and lack of hydrogen-bond donors make it lipophilic, with a computed logP near 1.5.

What is the CAS number and PubChem CID of aniracetam?

Aniracetam's CAS number is 72432-10-1 and its PubChem CID is 2196. Its InChIKey is ZXNRTKGTQJPIJK-UHFFFAOYSA-N, which encodes the exact structure as a text string.

How is the chemical structure of aniracetam confirmed in the lab?

It is confirmed by methods that read the structure: mass spectrometry for the 219 parent ion, HPLC with UV detection for the aromatic ring, and a melting point check against 120 to 124°C. Nordic Chems runs HPLC, mass spectrometry, and LC-MS on every batch to a 99% purity spec.

Is aniracetam sold for human use?

No. Nordic Chems sells aniracetam as a laboratory material for research, analytical, and educational use only. It is not for human consumption or any in-vivo use.