Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationships of Novel Phenylcyanoguanidine Derivatives as Potassium Channel Openers.

3, 5-Di-substituted phenylcyanoguanidine derivatives with halogen, cyano, and/or nitro groups at the 3- and 5-positions of the benzene ring exhibited very strong smooth muscle relaxation activity in vitro, as compared to pinacidil. Among them, N-(3-chloro-5-cyanophenyl)-N'-cyano-N"-tert-pentylguanidine (5s) showed 27-fold more potent activity than pinacidil, and exhibited a stronger and more lasting antihypertensive effect than pinancidil by oral administration to spontaneously hypertensive rats. We propose a new pharmacophore model in which the essential factors for binding to the potassium channel are an NH and a bulky alkyl group.