Fentanyl is the prototype of the 4-anilidopiperidine class of synthetic opioid analgesics. This study was aimed to review the structure-activity-relationship (SAR) of fentanyl analogs substituted in the position 3, or 4 of the piperidine ring. Pharmacological results show that the groups in position 3 of the piperidine ring, which are larger than methyl, severely reduce the analgesic potency compared to fentanyl. It is likely that the steric factor alone (i.e. voluminosity of the group and cis/trans isomerism), rather than the polarity and/or chemical reactivity, plays a crucial role in the analgesic potency of this series. Although the duration of action, in general, does not depend on the stereochemistry, longer action of the most potent 3-alkyl fentanyl analogs such as cis-3-methyl- and cis-3-ethyl fentanyl, is more likely influenced by pharmacodynamic, rather than pharmacokinetic variables. Also, it is possible that the introduction of a functional group such as 3-carbomethoxy reduces the duration of action by altering pharmacokinetic properties. SAR findings obtained by evaluating the neurotoxic effects of fentanyl analogs substituted in the position 3 of the piperidine ring parallel the SAR findings on analgesia in regard to potency and duration of action. This might suggest that similar receptors are involved in producing both antinociceptive and neurotoxic effects of these drugs. It appears that both the potency and the duration of action in the series of fentanyl analogs substituted in position 4 of the piperidine ring is influenced only by the steric requirement and not by the chemical nature of the substituent.

No abstract

SUMMARYThe computational method, based on molecular mechanics, with Monte Carlo type searching in dihedral angle space, was applied to the study of seven physiologically highly active fentanyl analogs, with different substituents in a phenethyl side chain. The low energy regions of the conformational space of these molecules have been compared in an effort to establish the receptor-recognized conformation of a phenethyl side chain, and to explain the mechanisms by which a hydroxyl substituent increases potency of the fentanyl analogs. It has been found that the extended conformation of a phenethyl side chain is the only one available to all the active analogs of fentanyl. Activities of the compounds with alkyl substituents in the phenethyl side chain correlate with their hydrophobicities. A hydroxyl substituent affects potency by reducing the flexibility of the phenethyl side chain, by reducing the energy difference between the global minimum and the receptor-recognized conformation and by specific interactions with the receptor.

No abstract

The Monte Carlo search of the low-energy regions of D-mannitol (4) and D-glucitol (5) conformational space was undertaken in order to investigate conformational effects on the stereochemistry of the acid-catalyzed dehydrative cyclization reaction of 4 and 5 to the corresponding 1,4:3,6-dianhydrohexitols. It was found that although dominant conformations in water resemble closely the crystal state conformations of 4 and 5, the same is not true in solvents of low polarity. The magnitudes of the calculated energies of the reactive conformations for the dehydrative cyclization reaction suggest an S N 2 mechanism with a late transition state.