Synthesis and Pharmacological Evaluation of Novel Benzenesulfonamide Derivatives as Potential Anticonvulsant Agents

A novel series of benzenesulfonamide derivatives containing 4-aminobenzenesul-fonamide and α-amides branched valproic acid or 2,2-dimethylcyclopropanecarboxylic acid moieties were synthesized and screened for their anticonvulsant activities in mice maximal electroshock seizure (MES) and subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) test. The activity experimental study showed that 2,2-dipropyl-N(1)-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)malonamide (18b) had the lowest median effective dose (ED(50)) of 16.36 mg/kg in MES test, and 2,2-dimethyl-N-(4-sulfamoylphenyl)cyclopropane-1,1-dicarboxamide (12c) had the lowest ED(50) of 22.50 mg/kg in scPTZ test, which resulted in the protective indexe (PI) of 24.8 and 20.4, respectively. These promising data suggest the new compounds have good potential as new class of anticonvulsant agents with high effectiveness and low toxicity for the treatment of epilepsy.