Improved Synthesis of Anxiolytic, Anticonvulsant and Antinociceptive α2/α3-GABA(A)ergic Receptor Subtype Selective Ligands as Promising Agents to Treat Anxiety, Epilepsy, as well as Neuropathic Pain

An improved synthesis of the anxiolytic, anticonvulsant and antinociceptive compounds: Hz-166, and its bioisosteres 1,2,4-oxadiazole (MP-III-080) and 1,3-oxazole (KRM-II-81) were executed in higher yields and with more facile purification methods (crystallization, etc.) in multigram quantities without column chromatography. In the synthesis of KRM-II-81, an alternative procedure was employed using the selective reducing reagent, potassium diisobutyl-t-butoxy aluminum hydride (PDBBA), to prepare the desired C(3)-aldehyde in the absence of [N(5)-C(6)] imine reduction in good yield on 20 gram scale.

Keywords: GABAAR; anxiety; benzodiazepines; epilepsy; imine; large scale; neuropathic pain; selective reduction.