Synthesis of 1-arylpiperazyl-2-phenylcyclopropanes designed as antidopaminergic agents: cyclopropane-based conformationally restricted analogs of haloperidol.

A series of the cyclopropane-based conformationally restricted analogs of haloperidol were designed as potential antidopaminergic agents and were effectively synthesized using highly stereoselective Grignard reaction with tert-butanesulfinyl imines as the key step. Pharmacological evaluation of the compounds showed that the conformational restriction method can effectively work for improving the pharmacological selectivity of a parent compound and also for investigating the bioactive conformation.