Patent ID: 7875629

Claim:
A method of treating a disorder of reduced motility of the gastrointestinal tract in a mammal, the method comprising administering to the mammal a pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically-acceptable carrier and a compound of formula (I): wherein: R 1 is hydrogen, halo, or C 1-4 alkyl; R 2 is C 3-4 alkyl or C 3-6 cycloalkyl; a is 0 or 1; Z is a moiety of formula (c): wherein: X is carbon and Q is -A-; or X is nitrogen and Q is selected from —OC(O)—, —S(O) 2 —, —S(O) 2 (CH 2 ) 2 —, and -A(CH 2 ) 2 —; b is 1, X is carbon, and W is —S(O) 2 —; or b is 2, X is carbon or nitrogen, and W is selected from —S(O) 2 —, —N{C(O)R 9 }—, —N{S(O) 2 R 10 }—, —N{C(O)NR 13 R 14 }—, and —N{R 16 }—; or Z is a moiety of formula (d): wherein: Q is selected from —OC(O)—, —S(O) 2 —, —S(O) 2 (CH 2 ) 2 —, and -A(CH 2 ) 2 —; W′ is selected from —N(R 8 )C(O)R 9 , —N(R 8 )S(O) 2 R 10 , —S(R 11 )(O) 2 , —N(R 8 )C(O)NR 13 R 14 , —OR 15 , and —N(R 8 )R 16 ; provided that when W′ is attached to a carbon atom bonded to the nitrogen atom of the ring, that W′ is —C(O)NR 13 R 14 ; and b is 1 or 2; A is selected from —S(O) 2 CH 2 C(O)N(R 3 )—, —N{C(O)R 5 }—, —N{C(O)NR 6a R 6b }—, —N{S(O) 2 C 1-3 alkyl}—, —N{S(O) 2 NR 6a R 6b }—, —S(O) 2 N(R 7a )—, and —OC(O)N(R 7b )—; R 3 is C 1-4 alkyl; R 5 is hydrogen, C 1-3 alkyl, or C 1-3 alkoxy; R 6a and R 6b are independently hydrogen or C 1-4 alkyl; R 7a and R 7b are independently hydrogen or C 1-4 alkyl; R 8 is hydrogen, methyl, or ethyl; R 9 is tetrahydrofuranyl, methyl, or ethyl; R 10 is methyl or ethyl; R 11 is methyl or ethyl; R 13 and R 14 are independently hydrogen, methyl or ethyl; R 15 is hydrogen or methyl; R 16 is —(CH 2 ) r —R 17 , wherein r is 0, 1, or 2; and R 17 is selected from hydroxy, cyano, C 1-3 alkyl, and C 1-3 alkoxy; provided that when r is 0, R 17 is C 1-3 alkyl; and when r is 1, R 17 is cyano or C 1-3 alkyl; or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt or stereoisomer thereof.