Fluoromethylated and hydroxymethylated derivatives of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antagonist 1-[1-(2-thienyl)cyclohexyl]piperidine.

Derivatives with fluoromethyl and hydroxymethyl groups on the cyclohexyl ring of 1-[1-(2-thienyl)cyclohexyl]piperidine (TCP), a noncompetitive antagonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, were tested in a radioligand binding assay to evaluate their ability to inhibit [3H]TCP binding by rat brain homogenates. The potencies of these compounds as antagonists of NMDA and L-glutamate responses were also compared using a rat cortical slice preparation. One of the analogs, cis-2-hydroxymethyl-r-1-(N-piperidyl)-1-(2-thienyl) cyclohexane (5) was found to show a high affinity (IC50 = 16 nM) for the phencyclidine (PCP) binding sites, very close to that of TCP, and to be 38-fold more potent in binding than its trans isomer. Fluoromethyl and hydroxymethyl substitutions at C4 position of the cyclohexyl ring of TCP clearly reduced the affinity by at least one order of magnitude relative to TCP.