When tested by the tracheal chain method (1, 2) the known benzylmethyl and benzylethyl piperazines (3) were found to have about 1% and 0.4% respectively of the antihistaminic activity of dimethylaminoethyl benzhydryl ether (Benadryl). This suggested that N-methylpiperazines having "-substituents containing two or three rings might show activities comparable to those of currently available histamine antagonists and that among such substituents the benzhydryl group would be close to the optimal size.A variety of derivatives of methylpiperazine, whose properties are shown in Table I, were therefore prepared to ascertain (a) whether the benzhydryl radical was in fact of the optimal size and (b) whether it would be possible to combine the features of antihistaminic and bronchodilator drugs. This latter point early received a negative answer which was not unexpected since attempts to combine in one compound the virtues of two physiologically active types usually result in a substance lacking the advantages of either. Compound X I was much less potent than benzhydrylmethylpiperazine and Compounds XI1 and XI11 had only vestigial activity. Bronchodilator action was also negligible.In respect to point (a), Compounds I-VI had activities intermediate between those of benzylmethylpiperazine and benzhydrylmethylpiperazine (4). Compounds VII-X and XIV-XV again showed little or no activity. It is evident that the benzhydryl group is, at any rate, close to the optimal size. The inferior potency of Compounds XI-XI11 can be interpreted as meaning that hydrophilic groups in this portion of the molecule are undesirable.
EXPERIMENTALWith 1,be exception of Compounds I11 and X I I , all the substances listed in Table I were prepared by the direct reaction of methylpiperazine with the appropriate halide. The intermediates for I, 11, and XI11 were bromides, the rest chlorides. The reactions leading to Compounds IV-VI and XIV-XV were carried out in ethanol, the others without solvent except that a little benzene was usually added to ensure adequate mixing. The benzhydryl chloride precursors t o Compounds VII-X react by the SN1 scheme requiring absence of hydroxylic solvents. It is probable from the poor yield of Compound V that a-naphthylmethyl chloride also reacts largely by the "unimolecular" mechanism. In the preparation of Compounds X I and XI11 hydroxylic solvents presumably would not be objectionable. Aside from these variations the preparations were of standard type and can be generalized. Two equivalents of methylpiperazine were employed t o one of halide and the mixture was heated on the steam-bath for two t o ten hours dependent on the expected reactivity of the halide. When ethanol was present it was evaporated a t this point. The reaction mixture was then partitioned between ether and water, the ethereal layer being washed with water 1 The work here reported is part of a joint program carried out in collaboration with a 2 Present address, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. pharmacological group in these laboratories....