YH 1885 (5,6-dimethyl -2-(4-fluorophenylamino)-4-(1-methyl -1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinolin -2- yl) pyrimidine hydrochloride) was developed as an antiulcer drug. The objective of this study was to examine a comparative metabolism of YH1885 in rat, dog, monkey and human liver tissues and to determine the metabolite profiles produced by the four species. YH1885 was metabolized by liver 59 fractions from all four species. Control incubations containing 59 fraction but no cofactors, contained essentially no metabolites. Metabolism of YH1885 apparently became saturated in the concentration range studied because the % of YH 1885 metabolized decreased with increasing drug concentration for all four species. Six to nine metabolite peaks were detected in the incubations and the particular profile of metabolites varied with species. The total amount of metabolites formed by liver microsomes from human and monkey were less than microsomes from rat or dog. The major metabolite peak formed by rat liver 597actions fluted near the solvent front on the HPLC or remained at the origin in TLC, indicating that it contained one or more polar metabolites. Dog liver 59 fractions incubations contained four major metabolites that each accounted for about 15 to 20 % of the total radioactivity at the low concentration of YH1885. The metabolite profiles of YH1885 appeared to be similar in incubations with rhesus monkey and human liver 59 fraction. The amount of metabolites formed by rhesus monkey liver preparations was greater than that of human liver that contained prominent metabolite peaks with approximate relative retention time of 0.14 and 0.43.