The synthesis and characterization of some 1-(phenylalkyl)imidazole-2-thiones as a novel class of "multisubstrate" inhibitors of dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH) are described. These inhibitors incorporate structural features that resemble both tyramine and oxygen substrates, and as evidenced by steady-state kinetics, they appear to bind both the phenethylamine binding site and the active site copper atom(s) in DBH. A series of structural congeners that incorporate different bridging chain lengths between the phenyl ring (dopamine mimic) and the imidazole-2-thione group (oxygen mimic) define the optimum distance for inhibitory potency and the likely intersite distance in the DBH active site. Additional bridging analogues were prepared to determine the active site bulk tolerance and the effects of heteroatom replacement.

The spectral shifts of the first absorption bands brought about by cyclic terminal groups in analogues of Michler's Hydrol Blue, Malachite Green, and Crystal Violet are determined mainly by inductive effects.Dye cations containing terminal pyrrolidino substituents are significantly more stable than those possessing piperidino groups as a result of differences in basicity brought about by a change in size of the saturated heterocyclic ring.

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Structure-activity relationships (SAR) were determined for novel multisubstrate inhibitors of dopamine beta-hydroxylase (DBH; EC 1.14.17.1) by examining the effects upon in vitro inhibitory potencies resulting from structural changes at the copper-binding region of inhibitor. Attempts were made to determine replacement groups for the thione sulfur atom of the prototypical inhibitor 1-(4-hydroxybenzyl)imidazole-2-thione described previously. The synthesis and evaluation of oxygen and nitrogen analogues of the soft thione group demonstrated the sulfur atom to be necessary for optimal activity. An additional series of imidazole-2-thione relatives was prepared in an effort to probe the relationship between the pKa of the ligand group and inhibitory potency. In vitro inhibitory potency was shown not to correlate with ligand pKa over a range of approximately 10 pKa units, and a rationale for this is advanced. Additional ligand modifications were prepared in order to explore bulk tolerance at the enzyme oxygen binding site and to determine the effects of substituting a six-membered ligand group for the five-membered imidazole-2-thione ligand.

To probe the suggestion that D-1 (DA1) dopamine receptors might possess an accessory pi-binding site in a location complementary to a suitably oriented aromatic ring (i.e., in an axial orientation approximately orthogonal to the catechol nucleus) in agonists such as 2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1-phenyl-1H-3-benzazepine-7,8-diol (1) and 3',4'-dihydroxynomifensine (2) that are selective for this subtype, cis- and trans-2,3,4,8,9,9a-hexahydro-4-phenyl-1H-indeno[1,7-cd]azepine-6,7-diol were prepared. These compounds are 5,6-ethano-bridged derivatives of the D-1 selective dopamine receptor agonist 1. Introduction of the bridge reduces the conformational mobility of the parent molecule. Comprehensive conformational analyses by molecular mechanical methods indicated that both the cis and trans isomers could attain a conformation that places the phenyl substituent in an axial orientation. X-ray analysis of the trans isomer showed an axial disposition of the phenyl ring; however, NMR studies suggest that this conformation is fixed in the trans isomer, but not in the cis. The dopamine receptor binding affinity and intrinsic activity of the cis isomer were considerably greater than those of its trans counterpart; the cis isomer also demonstrated a high degree of selectivity for the D-1 subtypes. One possible explanation of these results, suggested by the molecular modeling studies, is that both the axial orientation of the phenyl postulated to be required for binding to the receptor and a putatively requisite location of the nitrogen in approximately the plane of the catechol ring can be attained only by the cis isomer in which the tetrahydroazepine ring is in a twist conformation. Conversely, these results might simply suggest a preference of the D-1 receptors for benzazepine agonists having the phenyl group in an equatorial orientation. Still another possibility is that the D-1 receptor binding site is in a sterically hindered area accessible only to compounds that are relatively planar. However, it requires an axial 1-phenylbenzazepine for strong binding. Thus, a conformationally flexible cis isomer could more readily achieve the different conformations required to both gain access to and bind with the D-1 site.