Abstract
A new series of oxime ethers 4a-z was designed and synthesized to test the blocking activity against β&sub1; and β&sub2;-adrenergic receptors. Docking of these ether derivatives into the active site of the identified 3D structures of β&sub1; and β&sub2;-adrenergic receptors showed MolDock scores comparable to those of reference compounds. Biological results revealed that the inhibition effects on the heart rate and contractility are less than those of propranolol. Nevertheless, the two compounds 4p and 4q that displayed the highest negative MolDock score with β&sub2;-adrenergic receptors showed β&sub2;-antagonistic activity by decreasing salbutamol relaxation of precontracted tracheal strips, which indicates the importance of a chlorothiophene moiety in the hydrophobic region for best complementarity with β&sub2; receptors. On other hand, the presence of a homoveratryl moiety increases the MolDock score of the tested compounds with the β&sub1; receptor.