Synthesis of Photolabile “Precursors” of Amino Acid Neurotransmitters

Abstract

The synthesis of photolabile precursors of the neurotransmitters for the aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, and ϒ-aminobutyric acid receptors are reported. These compounds are designed for the rapid, photochemically initiated release of the neurotransmitter. The importance of rapidly photolyzed, inert (toward a neuronal receptor) precursors of neurotransmitters is in chemical kinetic investigations of the reactions involving the neuronal receptors. In the past, such studies have been hampered because of the insufficient time resolution of the available techniques. A photolyzable precursor of carbamoylcholine, an amino-group-containing analogue of acetylcholine, has been used previously to make measurements of currents flowing through the acetylcholine receptor channel within 100 us. © 1990, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.