Deferasirox, sold under the brand name Exjade among others, is an oral iron chelator.

[4][6] According to the FDA (May 2007), kidney failure and cytopenias have been reported in patients receiving deferasirox tablets for oral suspension.

Two molecules of deferasirox are capable of binding to 1 atom of iron which are subsequently eliminated by fecal excretion.

Its low molecular weight and high lipophilicity allows the drug to be taken orally unlike deferoxamine which has to be administered by IV route (intravenous infusion).

Deferasirox can be prepared from simple commercially available starting materials (salicylic acid, salicylamide and 4-hydrazinobenzoic acid) in the following two-step synthetic sequence: The condensation of salicyloyl chloride (formed in situ from salicylic acid and thionyl chloride) with salicylamide under dehydrating reaction conditions results in formation of 2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-1,3(4H)-benzoxazin-4-one.