Stereoisomers of fenoterol and six fenoterol derivatives have been synthesized and their binding affinitiesfor the
2 adrenergic receptor (
Ki2-AR), the subtype selectivity relative to the
1-AR (
Ki1-AR/
Ki2-AR)and their functional activities were determined. Of the 26 compounds synthesized in the study, submicromolarbinding affinities were observed for (
R,
R)-fenoterol, the (
R,
R)-isomer of the
p-methoxy, and (
R,
R)- and(
R,
S)-isomers of 1-naphthyl derivatives and all of these compounds were active at submicromolarconcentrations in cardiomyocyte contractility tests. The
Ki1-AR/
Ki2-AR ratios were >40 for (
R,
R)-fenoteroland the (
R,
R)-
p-methoxy and (
R,
S)-1-naphthyl derivatives and 14 for the (
R,
R)-1-napthyl derivative. Thebinding data was analyzed using comparative molecular field analysis (CoMFA), and the resulting modelindicated that the fenoterol derivatives interacted with two separate binding sites and one steric restrictedsite on the pseudo-receptor and that the chirality of the second stereogenic center affected
Ki2 and subtypeselectivity.