The Design and Synthesis of 1,4-Substituted Piperazine Derivatives Bull. Korean Chem. Soc. 2012, Vol. 33, No. 8 2597 http://dx.doi.org/10.5012/bkcs.2012.33.8.2597 The Design and Synthesis of 1,4-Substituted Piperazine Derivatives as Triple Reuptake Inhibitors Minsoo Han,†,‡ Younghue Han,† Chiman Song,† and Hoh-Gyu Hahn†,* †Organic Chemistry Laboratory, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 136-791, Korea. *E-mail:
[email protected] ‡Department of Chemistry, Korea University, Seoul 136-701, Korea Received April 12, 2012, Accepted May 7, 2012 Novel 1,4-substituted piperazine derivatives 5, Series A and B were designed by fragment analysis and molecular modification of 4 selected piperazine-containing compounds which possess antidepressant activity. We synthesized new 39 analogues of Series A and 10 compounds of Series B, respectively. The antidepressant screening against DA, NE, and serotonin neurotransmitter uptake inhibition was carried out using the Neurotransmitter Transporter Uptake Assay Kit. The compounds in Series B showed relatively higher reuptake inhibitory activity for SERT, NET, and DAT than those in Series A. The length of spacer between the central piperazine core and the terminal phenyl ring substituted at the piperazine ring in Series B seems to exert an important role in the activity. Key Words : Major depressive disorder, Antidepressants, Triple reuptake inhibitor, Piperazine, CNS drug Introduction pharmacokinetics. Therefore, TRIs as a single molecule are expected to be the next generation of antidepressant and Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a common and seri- remain desirable. ous illness with the potential to become the leading cause of Among the broad range of templates, heterocyclic scaffolds disability worldwide.