A series of achiral 3-heteroaryl substituted quinuclidin-2-ene derivat
ives and related compounds have been synthesized by facile methods. Th
e compounds were evaluated for muscarinic and antimuscarinic propertie
s in receptor binding studies using (-)-[H-3]-QNB as the radioligand a
nd ina functional assay using isolated guinea pig urinary bladder. 3-(
2-Benzofuranyl)-quinuclidin-2-ene (15) displayed the highest M(1)-rece
ptor affinity in the present series (K-i = 9.6 nM).