Evaluation of some benzenesulphonylhydrazones of aryl aldehydes and ketones as antiepileptic agents.

Benzaldehyde benzenesulphonamide was shown to have comparable anticonvulsant activity to valproic acid in the maximal electroshock seizure test. Molecular modification of this compound was developed principally to explore whether a correlation between planarity and anticonvulsant activity could be discerned. The interplanar angle (theta) between an aryl ring and the adjacent azomethine group of some representative compounds was measured by electronic absorption spectroscopy. However, the structural alterations of benzaldehyde benzenesulphonamide undertaken in this work led to compounds bereft of anticonvulsant activity.