a-Hydroxytriazolam is a major urinary and blood metabolite of the benzodiazepine, triazolam, a pharmaceutical used to treat severe insomnia. It is suitable for use in LC/MS or GC/MS applications for clinical toxicology, forensic analysis, urine drug testing, or pharmaceutical research. Triazolam is a triazolobenzodiazepine with hypnotic properties, advocated for use in acute or chronic insomnia, situational insomnia in hospitalised patients, and insomnia associated with other disease states. As triazolam has a relatively short half-life of about 2 to 3 hours in healthy subjects and has only 1 short acting active metabolite, alpha-hydroxytriazolam. a-Hydroxytriazolam is reported to have 50 to 100 % of the pharmacological activity of the parent compound. Triazolam (marketed in English-speaking countries under the brand names Apo-Triazo, Halcion, Hypam, and Trilam) is a benzodiazepine drug. It possesses pharmacological properties similar to that of other benzodiazepines, but it is generally only used as a sedative to treat severe insomnia. In addition to the hypnotic properties triazolam possesses, amnesic, anxiolytic, sedative, anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant properties are also present.