The synthesis of a series of 2-sulfonamido- and 2-sulfamido-1,3,4,6,7,11ba-hexahydro-2H-benzo[a]quinolizines is reported. Compounds in which the 2-substituent is equatorial were synthesized stereoselectively and shown to possess greater antihypertensive activity than the 2-axial isomers. N-(1,3,4,6,7,11ba-Hexahydro-2H-benzo[a]quinolizin-2β-yl)methanesulfonamide (5) was shown to possess antihypertensive activity in the DOCA rat at 10-50 mg/kg, and its pharmacology was examined in detail.