The syntheses of the methyl ester, butyl ester,(ethoxycarbony1) methyl ester, and 11 (acy1oxy) methyl esters of the potent y-aminobutyric acid agonist isoguvacine (1, 2, 3, 6- tetrahydropyidine-4-carboxylic acid) are described. The chemical stability of the esters and their in vitro rates of hydrolysis under approximately physiological conditions by nonspecific eaterases from human serum were examined. A selected number of the eaters were ...