Introduction: Recent decades have witnessed the growing interest in the development of imidazoline derivatives in drug discovery due to increased knowledge in pathogenesis of many diseases. Imidazoline structure has been one of the most sought-after scaffolds employed in developing various agents with different kinds of pharmacological activities. During 2006 - 2012, imidazoline structures have been found in numerous patented compounds for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and cancer.
Areas covered: This paper provides a general review of patented imidazoline derivatives from 2006 to 2012. Information from articles published in international peer-reviewed journals has also been included to give a more exhaustive overview.
Expert opinion: With the uncovering of the molecular mechanisms related to neurodegenerative diseases and cancer, the use of classical and novel imidazoline structures has been more frequently noted in recent (2006 - 2012) patented agents for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases and cancer instead of agents for the treatment of cardiovascular disease noticed earlier.