Synthesis and preliminary biological screening of certain 5-aralkyl pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acids as anticonvulsants

Synthesis of a series of 5-aralkyl pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid derivatives namely, 1-acetyl-4-hydroxy-5-benzyl or 5-(4-alkoxy-benzyl)-pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acids (3a-e), 1-H-4-hydroxy-5-benzyl or 5-(4-alkoxy-benzyl)-pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acids (4a-e), 1-acetyl-5-benzyl or 5-(4-alkoxy-benzyl)-pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acids (8a-e), 1-H-5-benzyl or 5-(4-alkoxy-benzyl)-pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acids (9a-e) have been accomplished. The structures of the new compounds were assigned from IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR and elemental analyses. Compounds 3a-e, 4a-e, 8a-e and 9a-e were biologically screened for their anticonvulsant potential using the subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole seizures (scPTZ) assay and Gabapentin as reference standard. The 1-H-4-hydroxy-5-benzyl or 5-(4-alkoxy-benzyl)-pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acids (4a-e) showed the highest anticonvulsant activity. Compound 4b was found to be the most potent one which exhibited 100% protection