(Hetero)Aryloxyaminopropanols with N-Phenylpiperazine Structural Fragment – Review of Cardiovascular Activity

Aryloxyphenylpiperazinylpropanols are a group of compounds exhibiting a wide range of biological activities, affecting the central nervous system and many cardiovascular mechanisms among them. As cardiovascular agents, aryloxyphenylpiperazinylpropanols work as antihypertensives, antiarrhythmics, cardiotonics or antiaggregants. The mechanism of action is almost always an α1-adrenolytic or combined α1- and β-adrenolytic effect, but sometimes other mechanisms (e.g., Ca²⁺ antagonism or phosphodiesterase inhibition) can positively participate. In some cases, compounds with a small modification of the connecting chain also exhibit the desired cardiovascular effects. Several studies dealt with chirality of aryloxyphenylpiperazinylpropanols and determined the differences between the particular activities of racemic and enantiomeric compounds.