Novel Design of Nonpeptide AVP V₂ Receptor Agonists:  Structural Requirements for an Agonist Having 1-(4-Aminobenzoyl)-2,3,4,5-tetrahydro-1H-1-benzazepine as a Template

The discovery of a series of nonpeptide arginine vasopressin V₂ receptor agonists is described. After identifying the aniline derivative 8 as our lead compound from the metabolites of compound 7 that showed antidiuretic activity by po administration to Brattleboro rats, improvements in the in vitro potency involving evaluations of the structural requirements for agonist action and optimizing the structure of the benzoyl moiety have been intensively undertaken. These studies led to compounds 16g, 19a, and 23b,h,i that show potent agonist activity for the V₂ receptor.