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N-Norcocaine (2) and six N-nor-3 beta-(4'-substituted phenyl)tropane-2 beta-carboxylic acid esters (4a-f) were synthesized by N-demethylation of cocaine (1) and the appropriate 3 beta-(substituted phenyl)-tropane analogues (3a-f) with alpha-chloroethyl chloroformate. Radioligand binding affinities of 2 and 4a-f at the DA, 5-HT, and NE transporter were measured and compared to those of 1 and 3a-f. N-Demethylation produced relatively small effects at the DA transporter. In contrast, 4-19-fold and 2-44-fold enhanced affinity at the serotonin and norepinephrine transporter resulted from demethylation. N-Nor-3 beta-(4'-iodophenyl)tropane-2 beta-carboxylic acid methyl ester (4d) with an IC50 = 0.36 nM showed the greatest affinity for the serotonin transporter. However, N-nor-3 beta-(4'-ethylphenyl)tropane-2 beta-carboxylic acid methyl ester (4e) showed the greatest selectivity for the serotonin transporter.

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The dopamine transporter (DAT) is a target for the development of pharmacotherapies for a number of central disorders including Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, Lesch-Nyhan disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obesity, depression, and stimulant abuse as well as normal aging. Considerable effort continues to be devoted to the development of new ligands for the DAT. In this review, we present some of the more interesting ligands developed during the last few years from the 3-phenytropane, 1,4-dialkylpiperazine, phenylpiperidine, and benztropine classes of DAT uptake inhibitors as well as a few less studied miscellaneous DAT uptake inhibitors. Studies related to the therapeutic potential of some of the more studied compounds are presented. A few of the compounds have been studied as pharmacotherapies for Parkinson's disease, ADHD, and obesity. However, most of the drug discovery studies have been directed toward pharmacotherapies for stimulant abuse (mainly cocaine). A number of the compounds showed decreased cocaine maintained responding in rhesus monkeys trained to self-administer cocaine. One compound, GBR 12,909, was evaluated in a Phase 1 clinical trial.

The rate of entry of drugs into brain is thought to be a factor in their abuse liability. In this investigation, we have examined the rate of entry and binding at dopamine transporters in mouse striatum for a variety of dopamine transporter inhibitors. The method utilized was based on measuring the displacement of 3H-WIN 35,428 from striatal dopamine transporter sites in vivo at different times. Eleven cocaine analogs (RTI-31, RTI-32, RTI-51, RTI-55, RTI-113, RTI-114, RTI-117, RTI-120, RTI-121, WIN 35,065-2, and WIN 35,428) as well as other dopamine uptake site blockers (bupropion, nomifensine, and methylphenidate) were compared with (-) cocaine for their rates of displacement of 3H-WIN 35,428 binding in vivo. The drugs that displayed the fastest occupancy rates were bupropion, (-) cocaine, nomifensine, and methylphenidate. RTI-51, RTI-121, RTI-114, RTI-117, RTI-120, RTI-32, RTI-55, and RTI-113, showed intermediate rates, whereas RTI-31, WIN 35,065-2, and WIN 35,428 exhibited the slowest rates of displacement. While many of the cocaine analogs have proven to be behaviorally and pharmacologically more potent than (-) cocaine, their rates of entry and binding site occupancy were slower than that for (-) cocaine. Earliest times of transporter occupancy by the different drugs were correlated (although weakly) with their degree of lipophilicity (r = 0.59; P < 0.02). Kinetic effects and metabolism of the compounds could complicate the interpretations of these data.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

(3S,4R)-4-(4-Fluorophenyl)-3-[[3,4-(methylenedioxy)phenoxy]methyl] piperidine [(3S,9R)-3, paroxetine] is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) used as an antidepressant in humans. In previous studies, we reported that certain (1R)-3 beta-(substituted phenyl)nortropane-2 beta-carboxylic acid methyl esters (2a) exhibited high affinity and reasonable selectivity for the serotonin transporter (5-HTT). The major structural differences between 2a and (3S,4R)-3 are that 2a possesses a different absolute stereochemistry and has an ethylene bridge not present in 3. In addition, 2a possesses a carbomethoxy substituent adjacent to the aryl ring, whereas (3S,4R)-3 contains a [3,4-(methylenedioxy)phenoxy]methyl group. In this study, we present the synthesis and biological evaluations of six of the possible eight isomers of 3-(4-fluorophenyl)-2-[[3,4-(methylenedioxy)phenoxy]methyl]nortropane+ ++ (4). The data for inhibition of [3H]paroxetine binding show that (1R)-2 beta, 3 alpha-4c, which has the same stereochemistry as paroxetine, has the highest affinity at the 5-HTT. Strikingly, the most potent compounds for inhibition of [3H]WIN-35,428 binding were not the (1R)-2 beta, 3 beta-isomers but rather (1R)-2 beta, 3 alpha-4c and (1S)-2 beta, 3 alpha-4f. Conformational analyses show that these isomers exist in a flattened boat conformation with pseudoequatorial substituents. Thus, the binding data show that this conformation is recognized by the DAT-associated binding site and also suggest that this conformation of paroxetine is recognized by the 5-HTT-associated binding site.

2beta,3beta-Diphenyl-(5), 2alpha,3alpha-diphenyl-(6), and 2alpha,3beta-diphenyltropane (3) as well as 2,3-diphenyltrop-2-ene (4) were prepared in racemic form and assayed for inhibition of radioligand binding at the dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), and norepinephrine (NE) transporters. Among all three transporters, compounds 4-6 bound the DA transporter with the highest affinity. The 2beta,3beta-diphenyltropane (5) bound the DA transporter with an IC50 value (28 nM) almost identical to that of 3beta-phenyltropane-2beta-carboxylic acid methyl ester (WIN 35,065-2) and has much greater selectivity relative to binding to the serotonin transporter. A comparison of the radioligand data from this study to radioligand data obtained on other WIN 35,065-2 analogs suggests that hydrophobicity of the C-2 substituent of some analogs of the WIN 35,065-2 class may be an important contributing factor to binding at the DA transporter.