Abstract

Chemistry and biological activity of benzodiazepines

Author(s): Bahar Ahmed, Mohd Rashid

Benzodiazepines are bicyclic heterocyclic compounds possessing a benzene nucleus fused to a seven-membered ring containing two nitrogen atoms at different positions in the ring, and thus have been classified into six groups depending on the position of nitrogen atom in the seven membered ring. Many modifications and substitutions have been made in both rings by employing different methods to obtain a large number of compounds of varied types of biological activities. The information regarding their chemical, biological importance and drugs based on the skeleton of benzodiazepines is scattered in the literature, and there is no such review article available in the field. In the present article, we have reviewed the complete literature on the benzodiazepines containing seven membered diazepine ring fused with benzene ring, and have discussed various aspects including QSAR and spectral properties.