Screening of the BMS collection identified 4-hydroxy-3-methylsulfonanilidoethanolamines as full beta 3 agonists. Substitution of the ethanolamine nitrogen with a benzyl group bearing a para hydrogen bond acceptor promoted beta(3) selectivity. SAR elucidation established that highly selective beta(3) agonists were generated upon substitution of C(alpha) with either benzyl to form (R)-1,2-diarylethylamines or with aryl to generate 1,1-diarylmethylamines. This latter subset yielded a clinical candidate, BMS-194449 (35).(1)