Imidazopyridine

Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine—an example of imidazopyridine and a core structure of zolpidem and some compounds described below.
Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine—an example of imidazopyridine and a core structure of zolpidem and some compounds described below.

An imidazopyridine is a nitrogen containing heterocycle that is also a class of drugs that contain this same chemical substructure. In general, they are GABAA receptor agonists, however recently proton pump inhibitors, aromatase inhibitors, NSAIDs and other classes of drugs in this class have been developed as well. Despite usually being similar to them in effect, they are not chemically related to benzodiazepines. As such, GABAA-agonizing imidazopyridines, pyrazolopyrimidines, and cyclopyrrones are sometimes grouped together and referred to as "nonbenzodiazepines." Imidazopyridines include: