We have previously disclosed dihydropyridines such as 1a,b as selective alpha(1a) antagonists as a potential treatment for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The propensity of dihydropyridines toward an oxidation led us to find suitable replacements of the core unit. The accompanying papers describe the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of dihydropyrimidinones 2a,b as selective alpha(1a) antagonists. We report herein the SAR of dihydropyrimidines such as 4 and highlight the similarities and differences between the dihydropyrimidine and dihydropyrimidinone series of compounds.