Synthesis of 7,8-dichloro-6-Nitro-1 H-1,5-benzodiazepine-2,4-(3 H, 5 H)-dione as a potential NMDA receptor glycine site antagonist.

An efficient procedure for the preparation of 7,8-dichloro-6-nitro-1 H-1,5-benzodiazepine-2,4-(3 H, 5 H)-dione( 7) as a potential lead compound for the NMDA receptor glycine binding site antagonist, starting from readily available 4,5-dichloro-2-nitroaniline( 8), is described. The key step in the synthesis involves the cyclization of malonic ester amide 10 to compound 11. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]