Anticholinergic substances: A single consistent conformation.

An interactive computer-graphics analysis of 24 antagonists of acetylcholine at peripheral autonomic post-ganglionic (muscarinic) nervous junctions and at similar junctions in the central nervous system, the crystal structures of which are known, has led to the determination of a single, consistent, energetically favorable conformation for all 24 substances, although their observed crystal structure conformations vary widely. The absolute configuration and the single, consistent (ideal) conformation of the chemical groups required for maximum anticholinergic activity are described quantitatively.