Quinuclidines as selective agonists for alpha-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors

The α7 subtype of the neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) was targeted for the design of selective agonists deriving from the quinuclidine scaffold. Arylidene groups at the 3-position and N-methyl quinuclidine were found to be selective agonists with EC50s of 1.5 and 40 μM, respectively.