N-alkyl-[1,1'-biphenyl]-2-sulfonamide derivatives as novel broad spectrum anti-epileptic drugs with efficacy equivalent to that of sodium valproate.

In order to develop phenyl sulfonamides as a novel class of anti-epileptic drugs (AED) for both general and partial seizure, we initiated in vivo screening of our chemical library in the mice MES and sc-PTZ models and found compounds 1 and 2 as lead compounds. Optimization of 1 and 2 led to the discovery of compound 21, which showed potent anticonvulsant effect in MES, scPTZ and rat amygdala kindling models. These findings indicate that compound 21 could be a useful new broad spectrum AED like sodium valproate and provide an opportunity to struggle current therapy-resistant epilepsy.