History
British scientist James W. Black successfully developed propranolol in the 1960s. In 1988, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine for this discovery. Propranolol was derived from the early β-adrenergic antagonists dichloroisoprenaline and pronethalol. The key structural modification, which was carried through to essentially all subsequent beta blockers, was the insertion of an oxymethylene group into the arylethanolamine structure of pronethalol thus greatly increasing the potency of the compound. This also apparently eliminated the carcinogenicity found with pronethalol in animal models.
Newer, more selective beta-blockers (such as nebivolol, carvedilol, or metoprolol) are now used in the treatment of hypertension.
Read more about this topic: Propranolol
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