Disclosed are compounds of formula (I): ##STR00001##
and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds. Methods of treating neurological or psychiatric disease and disorders in a subject in need are also disclosed.

Disclosed are compounds of formula (I):

##STR00001##

and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds. Methods of treating neurological or psychiatric disease and disorders in a subject in need are also disclosed.

Disclosed are compounds of formula (I):

##STR00001##

and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds. Methods of treating neurological or psychiatric disease and disorders in a subject in need are also disclosed.

Disclosed are isochromane and related compounds, and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds. Methods of treating neurological or psychiatric disease and disorders in a subject in need are also disclosed.

Disclosed are isochromane and related compounds, and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds. Methods of treating neurological or psychiatric disease and disorders in a subject in need are also disclosed.

The invention provides a novel, general, and facile strategy for the creation of small molecules with high structural and stereochemical complexity. Aspects of the methods include ring system distortion reactions that are systematically applied to rapidly convert readily available natural products to structurally complex compounds with diverse molecular architectures. Through evaluation of chemical properties including fraction of sp.sup.3 carbons, ClogP, and the number of stereogenic centers, these compounds are shown to be significantly more complex and diverse than those in standard screening collections. This approach is demonstrated with natural products (gibberellic acid, adrenosterone, and quinine) from three different structural classes, and methods are described for the application of this strategy to any suitable natural product.

The invention provides a novel, general, and facile strategy for the creation of small molecules with high structural and stereochemical complexity. Aspects of the methods include ring system distortion reactions that are systematically applied to rapidly convert readily available natural products to structurally complex compounds with diverse molecular architectures. Through evaluation of chemical properties including fraction of sp.sup.3 carbons, ClogP, and the number of stereogenic centers, these compounds are shown to be significantly more complex and diverse than those in standard screening collections. This approach is demonstrated with natural products (gibberellic acid, adrenosterone, and quinine) from three different structural classes, and methods are described for the application of this strategy to any suitable natural product.

Disclosed are compounds of formula (I): ##STR00001##
and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds. Methods of treating neurological or psychiatric disease and disorders in a subject in need are also disclosed.

Disclosed are compounds of formula (I): ##STR00001##
and pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds. Methods of treating neurological or psychiatric disease and disorders in a subject in need are also disclosed.

Novel compounds of the structural formula (I), and the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, are agonists of G-protein coupled receptor 40 (GPR40) and may be useful in the treatment, prevention and suppression of diseases mediated by the G-protein-coupled receptor 40. The compounds of the present invention may be useful in the treatment of Type 2 diabetes mellitus, and of conditions that are often associated with this disease, including obesity and lipid disorders, such as mixed or diabetic dyslipidemia, hyperlipidemia, hypercholesterolemia, and hypertriglyceridemia. ##STR00001##