Novel Imidazobenzodiazepines and their analogs are useful as anticonvulsants, muscle relaxant, anxiolytic and sedative agents. Preferred compounds of this class belong to the imidazo[1,5-a][1,4]diazepine series which may have a very wide variety of organic substituents. An especially preferred genus included within the purview of the invention encompasses a compound of the formula ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 is hydrogen and lower alkyl preferably methyl; R.sub.3 and R.sub.5 are hydrogen; R.sub.4 is hydrogen, nitro and halogen, most preferably, chlorine, and in a most preferred embodiment when positioned on the fused benzo portion of the imidazobenzodiazepine is in the 8-position thereof, R.sub.6 is phenyl or halo, nitro, or lower alkyl-substituted phenyl, preferably, halo, with fluorine being the preferred halogen, the substituted fluoro being positioned in the 2-position of the phenyl moiety and R.sub.2 is hydrogen and lower alkyl.