Synthesis and evaluation of 7-substituted-3,4-dihydrobenzo[f][1,4]oxazepin-5(2H)-ones as anticonvulsant and hypnotic agents

A series of 7-substituted-3,4-dihydrobenzo[f][1,4]oxazepin-5(2H)-ones was synthesized. The anticonvulsant effect and neurotoxicity of the compounds were evaluated with a maximal electroshock (MES) test and a rotated test in mice, respectively. Most of the compounds prepared exhibited anticonvulsant activities in the MES test, 7-(heptyloxy)-3,4-dihydrobenzo[f][1,4]oxazepin-5(2H)-one (10) was the most active. In the anti-MES potency test, it showed a median effective dose (ED50) of 19.0 mg/kg. The hypnotic effect of the compound 10 was initially investigated by using a pentobarbital-induced-sleep test. Middle (30 mg/kg) and high doses (60 mg/kg) of the compound 10 both significantly increased the pentobarbital-induced sleep from 20.9 +/- A 5.28 to 26.9 +/- A 6.14 and 45.67 +/- A 7.94 min, respectively.