piperidines and etoxadrol

In the mid 1960s the (dioxolan-4-yl)piperidine derivatives dexoxadrol ((S,S)-1a) and etoxadrol ((S,S,S)-2a) were synthesized. Their pharmacological potential as analgesics, anesthetics and local anesthetics was evaluated in animal models and later on in clinical trials with patients. However, severe side effects including psychotomimetic effects, unpleasant dreams and aberrations stopped the clinical evaluation of dexoxadrol and etoxadrol. Both dioxolane derivatives represent NMDA receptor antagonists, which possess high affinity to the phencyclidine binding site within the NMDA receptor associated ion channel. In this review relationships between the structure of acetalic dexoxadrol analogues and homologues and their affinity toward the phencyclidine binding site of the NMDA receptor are summarized. In particular, high affinity is attained with compounds bearing two phenyl residues or one phenyl residue and an alkyl residue with two or three carbon atoms at the acetalic center. At least one oxygen atom of the oxygen heterocycle is necessary. Instead of the entire piperidine ring aminoalkyl substructures are sufficient for strong receptor interactions. Compounds with a primary amino moiety generally display the highest receptor affinity, whereas tertiary amines possess low affinity. Enlargement of the 1,3-dioxolane ring to a 1,3-dioxane ring or elongation of the oxygen heterocycle / amino group distance results in compounds with considerable NMDA receptor affinity.

Topics: Animals; Dioxolanes; Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; Humans; Models, Molecular; Oxygen; Piperidines; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; Structure-Activity Relationship

The synthesis and NMDA receptor affinity of ring and side-chain homologues of etoxadrol and dexoxadrol are described. For the regioselective synthesis of etoxadrol homologues, the regioisomeric 4-azidobutanediols (+/-)-9 and (+/-)-14 were employed. A synthesis of the enantiomerically pure azidobutanediols (S)-, (R)-9 and (S)-, (R)-14 was developed and the homochiral building blocks were used for the synthesis of enantiomerically pure etoxadrol and dexoxadrol homologues. The affinity of the racemic and enantiomerically pure primary amines toward the phencyclidine binding site of the NMDA receptor was investigated in receptor binding studies with tritium labeled [3H]-(+)-MK-801 as radioligand. Benzaldehyde derivatives (+/-)-12a, (+/-)-13a, and (+/-)-16a bearing a proton at the acetalic position do not interact significantly with the NMDA receptor. An enantioselective NMDA receptor binding was observed for the trans-configured 2-(2-ethyl-2-phenyl-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)ethanamine 13b, the (2-ethyl-2-phenyl-1,3-dioxan-4-yl)methanamine 16b, and the (2,2-diphenyl-1,3-dioxan-4-yl)methanamine 16c. The NMDA receptor affinity of these compounds resides almost exclusively in the (S)-configured enantiomers (2S,4S)-13b, (2S,4S)-16b, and (4S)-16c. The lowest Ki-value in this series was found for the (2S,4S)-configured 1,3-dioxolane (2S,4S)-13b (Ki = 69 nM), which is in the range of the Ki-value of the lead compounds etoxadrol and dexoxadrol, indicating that the 2-aminoethyl and the piperidin-2-yl substituents lead to similar NMDA receptor interactions.

Topics: Animals; Dioxolanes; Guinea Pigs; Molecular Structure; Piperidines; Receptors, N-Methyl-D-Aspartate; Stereoisomerism; Structure-Activity Relationship