Eszopiclone, a non-benzodiazepine hypnotic agent from the cyclopyrrolone family, is a stereoisomer of zopiclone. Eszopiclone, like zopiclone, is a synthetic drug that has been found to help people sleep better. When compared to benzodiazepines, cyclopyrrolones' selectivity offers more advantages since they retain the hypnotic effect without having major anxiolytic and/or muscle relaxing effects.
Eszopiclone's effectiveness has been shown in patients with insomnia who may have other comorbidities, such as an elevated level of depression, generalized anxiety, rheumatoid arthritis, or sleep apnea, both of which cause improvements in sleep parameters. There have been no precise comparisons of the effectiveness of eszopiclone and zopiclone to date. A post hoc parametric analysis of reciprocal-transformed results, however, favored eszopiclone over racemic zopiclone in a study of a method for determining dissipation of the residual hypnotic effects of both medications.