Use of bicuculline, a GABA antagonist, as a template for the development of a new class of ligands showing positive allosteric modulation of the GABAA receptor

Analogues of bicuculline devoid of the benzo ring fused to the lactone moiety were prepared by reacting 2-(tert-butyldimethylsiloxy)furans with 3,4-dihydroisoquinolinium salts. Some of these compounds (e.g., ROD185, 8) acted as modulators of the GABAA receptor, displacing ligands of the benzodiazepine binding site. They also strongly stimulated GABA currents mediated by recombinant GABAA receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes.