ABSTRACT
Sympathomimetic bronchodilators have been important drugs in the treatment of asthma for most of the 20th century. This chapter traces the developments that led to the logical synthesis of many thousands of chemical compounds in the search for the ideal beta2 receptor agonist bronchodilator. The beta receptor agonist drugs were designed by medicinal chemists working closely with drug development pharmacologists. In this way chemical and physical properties necessary to improve the bronchodilator selectivity of prototype compounds could be pinpointed. Thus, the beta receptor agonist drugs have not only been invaluable in the treatment of asthma but their availability has also played an important role in substantiating receptor theories that have been central to the thinking of classical pharmacologists for nearly a century.
