Fluorescent ligands for the histamine H2 receptor: synthesis and preliminary characterization.

3-[3-(Piperidinomethyl)phenoxy]alkyl, N-cyano-N'-[omega-[3-(1-piperidinylmethyl)phenoxy]alkyl]guanidine and 2-(5-methyl-4-imidazolyl)methyl thioethyl derivatives containing fluorescent functionalities were synthesized and the histamine H2 receptor affinity was evaluated using the H2 antagonist [125I]-aminopotentidine. The compounds exhibited weak to potent H2 receptor affinity with pKi values ranging from <4 to 8.85. The highest H2 receptor affinity was observed for N-cyano-N'-[omega-[3-(1-piperidinylmethyl)phenoxy]alkyl]guanidines substituted with methylanthranilate (13), cyanoindolizine (6) and cyanoisoindole (11) moieties via an ethyl or propyl linker.