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Updated: Sep 13, 2025

Methods for the Discovery of Novel Compounds Modulating a Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid Receptor Type A Neurotransmission
Published on: August 16, 2018
New Molecular Insights on Gabapentin
Sofía Municio1, Sergio Mato1, José L Alonso1
1Grupo de Espectrocopía Molecular (GEM), Edificio Quifima, Laboratorios de Espectroscopia y Bioespectroscopia, Unidad Asociada CSIC, Parque Científico UVa, Universidad de Valladolid, Valladolid 47011, Spain.
Abstract:
Neutral gabapentin has been vaporized by laser ablation and supersonically expanded to record its rotational spectrum using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. We report the detection of five stable conformers, which differ in the intramolecular interactions between the different functional groups (OH, C=O, and NH). Two configurations, axial and equatorial, are possible depending on the chair form of the cyclohexane ring, and both forms are detected, with the latter being predominant. The conformational landscape of gabapentin is compared with that of GABA, and significant differences are observed. One of the most meaningful results of such a comparison is that the relationship between the intramolecular interactions and the relative abundance within each type is reversed from GABA to gabapentin. It could explain the distinction in the mechanism of action of GABA and gabapentin, despite being structurally similar.
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