A series of novel 3-alkoxy-1,2-dihydro-3H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones (7-15) was synthesized and their in vitro affinity for both the centralbenzodiazepinereceptor (CBR) and the peripheral benzodiazepinereceptor (PBR) of rat brain was studied. Racemic mixture of 7-bromo-3-(2-methoxy)ethoxy-5-phenyl-1,2-dihydro-3H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one (13) was separated into enantiomers 14, 15 by chiral HPLC. Absolute