p-, m-, and o-isothiocyanate derivatives (1-3, respectively) of tert-butylbicycloorthobenzoate (TBOB) were synthesized from 3-tert-butyloxetane-3-methanol (4) as the starting material. While 2 was readily obtained in four steps via catalytic hydrogenation of the m-nitro-tert-butylbicycloorthobenzoate (9) intermediate, 1 and 3 could not be obtained this way. 1 and 3 were instead synthesized by an alternative four-step approach while made use of the stability of the isothiocyanate moiety to strong Lewis acids such as boron trifluoride etherate, conditions that would isomerize isothiocyanato oxetane ester intermediates to their corresponding orthoesters. The p-isothiocyanate derivative of TBOB, compound 1, inhibited [35S]-tert-butylbicyclophosphorothionate (TBPS) binding to rat cortical membranes with a potency (IC50 62 nM) comparable to the parent compound while 2 and 3 were approximately 10-fold less potent (IC50 values 570 and 609 nM, respectively). Preincubating tissue with radioligand further reduced the potencies of 2 and 3 by approximately 1 order of magnitude (IC50 values 5400 and 7500 nM, respectively) while the potency of 1 (IC50 90 nM) was only marginally affected by this procedure. Pretreatment of membranes with 1 and 2 followed by extensive washing resulted in a concentration-dependent inhibition of [35S]TBPS binding. In contrast, preincubating tissues with up to 2.4 microM of 3 did not elicit an apparent acylation of [35S]TBPS binding sites. Molecular modeling of the effective diameters of 1-3 in their thermodynamically most stable conformations indicates a relationship between these diameters and their relative efficacies as site-directed acylators; the smaller the diameter, the more potent the acylator. This hypothesis explains both the relative potencies of these compounds and their differential abilities to acylate the TBPS binding site.