Design, synthesis and evaluation of 5-substituted 1- H -tetrazoles as potent anticonvulsant agents

A series of 5-substituted 1- H -tetrazoles were designed and synthesized as potent anticonvulsant agents. Their preliminary anticonvulsant activities were evaluated using maximal electroshock and subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) seizure tests. Neurotoxicity was determined using rotarod test. The results indicated that the compound 2j in scPTZ model exhibited the ED 50 values of 83.3 mg/kg, superior to the standard drug ethosuximide with the maximum activity. In addition, compound 2k showed the most potent activity in MES model with ED 50 value of 9.6 mg/kg and TD 50 value of 189.5 mg/kg after intraperitoneal injection in mice, and displayed a high protective index (TD 50 /ED 50 ) of 19.7 compared to reference antiepileptic drugs. Graphical Abstract