Synthesis and biological evaluation of 1-amino isochromans from 2-bromoethyl benzaldehyde and amines in acid medium.

We have developed a facile and efficient synthetic route to substituted isochromans for the first time by reacting 2-(2-bromoethyl)benzaldehyde with a variety of aryl, heteroaryl amines in AcOH. The reaction is catalyst/additive free and takes place at reflux conditions with short reaction time to furnish products in good to excellent yields. All the compounds have been characterized by spectral techniques such as IR, 1H NMR and Mass etc. Synthesized compounds were evaluated for antimicrobial activity against specific bacterial like 1) Staphylococcus strains aureus 2) Bacillus subtilis 3) Escherichia coli 4) Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Compounds 3e, 3n, 3 m, 3 l, 3 k, 3j and 3b showed most potent in vitro activity against bacterial strains.

Selective 5-hydroxytryptamine 2C receptor agonists derived from the lead compound tranylcypromine: identification of drugs with antidepressant-like action.

We report here the design, synthesis, and pharmacological properties of a series of compounds related to tranylcypromine (9), which itself was discovered as a lead compound in a high-throughput screening campaign. Starting from 9, which shows modest activity as a 5-HT(2C) agonist, a series of 1-aminomethyl-2-phenylcyclopropanes was investigated as 5-HT(2C) agonists through iterative structural modifications. Key pharmacophore feature of this new class of ligands is a 2-aminomethyl-trans-cyclopropyl side chain attached to a substituted benzene ring. Among the tested compounds, several were potent and efficacious 5-HT(2C) receptor agonists with selectivity over both 5-HT(2A) and 5-HT(2B) receptors in functional assays. The most promising compound is 37, with 120- and 14-fold selectivity over 5-HT(2A) and 5-HT(2B), respectively (EC(50) = 585, 65, and 4.8 nM at the 2A, 2B, and 2C subtypes, respectively). In animal studies, compound 37 (10-60 mg/kg) decreased immobility time in the mouse forced swim test.