Synthesis, evaluation and computational studies on a series of acetophenone based 1-(aryloxypropyl)-4-(chloroaryl) piperazines as potential atypical antipsychotics.

A series of 1-(aryloxypropyl)-4-(chloroaryl) piperazines have been synthesized and the target compounds evaluated for atypical antipsychotic activity in apomorphine induced mesh climbing and stereotypy assays in mice. The compounds 11 and 12 have emerged as important lead compounds showing potential atypical antipsychotic profile. The physicochemical similarity of the new analogs with respect to standard drugs clozapine, ketanserin, ziprasidone and risperidone was assessed by calculating from a set of 10 physicochemical properties using software programs. The test compounds demonstrated good similarity values with respect to the standard drugs. The potential of these compounds to penetrate the blood brain barrier (log BB) was computed through an online software program and the values obtained for the compounds suggest a good brain permeation. Copyright (c) 2010 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.