Synthesis and biological activities of optical isomers of 2-(4-diphenylmethyl-1-piperazinyl)ethyl 5-(4,6-dimethyl-2-oxo-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinan-2-yl)-1,4-dihydro-2,6-dim ethyl-4-(3-nitrophenyl)-3-pyridinecarboxylate dihydrochloride (NIP-101).

Six optical isomers of 2-(4-diphenylmethyl-1-piperazinyl)ethyl 5-(4,6-dimethyl-2-oxo-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinan-2-yl)-1,4-dihydro-2, 6-dimethyl-4-(3-nitrophenyl)-3-pyridinecarboxylate dihydrochloride (NIP-101, 1.2HCl.2H2O), a potent calcium antagonist, were successfully prepared by using optically active (2R,4R)-(-)- and (2S,4S)-(+)-2,4-pentanediols, and cis-2,4-pentanediol and optically active (S)-(+)-2-methoxy-2-phenylethanol. Their proton nuclear magnetic resonance investigations demonstrate that the 1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinane group is conformationally constrained around the C-P bond. Calcium-antagonistic and hypotensive activities of the optical isomers were examined and found to depend mainly on the absolute configuration at a stereogenic center in the 1,4-dihydropyridine ring rather than the configuration of the 1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinane moiety.