ST1936 oxalate is a selective, nanomolar affinity agonist of 5-HT6 receptor(Ki values of 13 nM, 168 nM and 245 nM for human 5-HT6, 5-HT7 and 5-HT2B receptors, respectively).

5-HT2B receptor:245 nM (ki), 5-HT6 receptor:13 nM (ki), 5-HT7 receptor (human):168 nM (ki)

ST1936 appears to be relatively selective for the 5-HT6 receptors, although it has shown affinity also for 5-HT2B, 5-HT1A, 5-HT7 receptor and α-adrenergic receptors when tested in a broad crossreactivity panel that comprised G-protein-coupled receptors, ion channel binding sites, enzymes, and transporters.

Extracellular single-unit recordings are performed from putative dopamine-containing neurons in the SNc and VTA of anesthetised rats (Male Sprague-Dawley rats).In the VTA, ST1936 induces either dose-related increases (45% of cells) or decreases in basal activity of these dopaminergic neurons.