The SAR development of dihydroimidazoisoquinoline derivatives as phosphodiesterase 10A inhibitors for the treatment of schizophrenia

Abstract The identification of potent and orally active dihydroimidazoisoquinolines as PDE 10A inhibitors is reported. The SAR development led to the discovery of compound 35 as a potent, selective, and orally active PDE10A inhibitor. Compound 35 inhibited MK-801-induced hyperactivity at 3 mg/kg and displayed a 10-fold separation between the minimal effective doses for inhibition of MK-801-induced hyperactivity and hypolocomotion in rats.