AN ATTEMPT TO STUDY THE EFFECTS OF CHEMICAL STRUCTURE ON THE AFFINITY AND EFFICACY OF COMPOUNDS RELATED TO ACETYLCHOLINE.

Two sets of series of compounds, RN(+)Me(3), RN(+)Me(2)Et, RN(+)MeEt(2), RN(+)Et(3), and R'N(+)Me(3), R'N(+)Me(2)Et, R'N(+)MeEt(2), R'N(+)Et(3), have been prepared, in which R is a 2-(diphenylacetoxy)ethyl, 2-(benziloyloxy)ethyl, 2-(2,2-diphenylethoxy)ethyl, 3-(diphenylmethoxy)propyl or 3,3-diphenylbutyrylmethyl group, and R' is a 2-acetoxyethyl, 2-ethoxyethyl, 3-methoxypropyl or butyrylmethyl group: compounds of the first set therefore differ from those of the second set in that they contain a diphenylmethyl group (or a benziloyl group) in place of a methyl group. The former compounds are antagonists of acetylcholine whereas most of the latter act like acetylcholine. The affinity constants of the former compounds for the acetylcholine receptors of the guinea-pig ileum have been determined and the equipotent molar ratios relative to acetylcholine have been measured for the latter compounds. The variation of the affinity constant with the constitution of the onium group in the antagonists (the diphenylmethyl compounds) was sufficiently consistent from one series to another for it to seem likely that corresponding changes in affinity with the constitution of the onium group would occur in the agonists. From the relative activity of the agonists and with this knowledge of relative affinity it was possible to assess the effects of their structure on efficacy. Substitution of one methyl in the onium group by an ethyl group in these compounds increased affinity but decreased efficacy. The replacement of a second methyl by a second ethyl group had little effect on affinity but decreased efficacy still further. The replacement of the ester link in acetylcholine by a 4-ether oxygen atom (as in the diphenylmethoxypropyl and methoxypropyl compounds) did not appreciably reduce affinity but markedly reduced efficacy, whereas the replacement of the ester link by a 3-ether oxygen atom (as in the diphenylethoxyethyl and ethoxyethyl compounds) markedly reduced affinity but did not reduce efficacy. The diphenylbutyrylmethyl compounds had low affinity and the butyrylmethyl compounds had low efficacy. We conclude that the action of acetylcholine at the postganglionic parasympathetic receptors in the guinea-pig ileum depends upon the presence of the 4-carbonyl group (and presumably the onium group) for affinity and on the 3-ether oxygen atom and the trimethylammonium group for efficacy.