blood pressure in the sh rat indicates that these compounds and their salts may be useful to treat essential hypertension in humans and may also be useful in modifying undesirable increase in heart rate tachycardia by their presence in the molecule the u03b2 adrenergic blocking effectiveness of the compounds of the present invention indicates that they are also useful to treat humans suffering from undesirable conditions such as angina pectoris or certain arrhythmias which are known to be amenable to treatment with u03b2 adrenergic blocking agents for use as antihypertensives and or u03b2 adrenergic blocking agents the present compounds can be administered orally parenterally or transdermally i e intravenously interperitoneally topically etc and in any suitable dosage form the compounds may be offered in a form a for oral administration e g as tablets in combination with other compounding ingredients customarily used such as talc vegetable oils polyols benzyl alcohols gums gelatin starches and other carriers dissolved or dispersed or emulsified in a suitable liquid carrier in capsules or encapsulated in a suitable encapsulating material or b for parenteral adminstration e g dissolved or dispersed in a suitable liquid carrier or emulsifed or c transdermally the ratio of active compound to compounding ingredients i e carrier diluent etc will vary as the dosage form requires whatever dosage form is used the amount of the compound of the present invention administered should be sufficient to effect a a reduction in blood pressure of a patient suffering from hypertension and or b desirable level of u03b2 blockade in a patient generally doses of the.