[Synthesis and biological activity of substituted 2-(4-imidazolyl)ethylamines]

The synthesis of 2-(4-imidazolyl)ethylamines with hydrocarbon substituents on the heterocyclic ring or on the side-chain, from 2-acylbutyrrolactones (V) or from similar ester-type open structures (VII) is described in this paper. In particular, the results already obtained, show that the scheme given for the preparation of 2-(5-methyl-4-imidazolyl)ethylamines can be rendered general, by suitable variations correlated more with side-chain branching, than with the nature of the heterocyclic ring substituents. Synthetized imidazolyethylamines have been preliminarily tested for their properties towards H2 receptors and, secondly, towards H1 receptors.