Click chemistry is a very powerful tool, in the drug discovery, because it is very efficient in the creation of compound libraries through combinatorial methodology. However, the 1,2,3-triazole ring itself is not a commonly used pharmacophore and has rarely been found in marketed drugs, demonstrating that there are still some limitations during the use of 1,2,3-triazole in the molecules of drug candidates. Hopefully, in the next decade, we will witness the emergence of 1,2,3-triazole-bearing drugs on the market as this click reaction is used more and more widely in the drug discovery.

The overproduction of HOCl is highly correlated with diseases such as atherosclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, and cancer. Whilst acting as a marker of these diseases, HOCl might also be used as an activator of prodrugs or drug delivery systems for the treatment of the corresponding disease. In this work, a new platform of HOCl probes has been developed that integrates detection, imaging, and therapeutic functions. The probes can detect HOCl, using both NIR emission and the naked eye in vitro, with high sensitivity and selectivity at ultralow concentrations (the detection limit is at the nanomolar level). Basal levels of HOCl can be imaged in HL‐60 cells without special stimulation. Moreover, the probes provided by this platform can rapidly release either amino‐ or carboxy‐containing compounds from prodrugs, during HOCl detection and imaging, to realize a therapeutic effect.

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A brief history of the design of sodium-dependent glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors is reviewed. The design of O-glucoside SGLT2 inhibitors by structural modification of phlorizin, a naturally occurring O-glucoside, in the early stage was a process mainly driven by biology with anticipation of improving SGLT2/SGLT1 selectivity and increasing metabolic stability. Discovery of dapagliflozin, a pioneering C-glucoside SGLT2 inhibitor developed by Bristol-Myers Squibb, represents an important milestone in this history. In the second stage, the design of C-glycoside SGLT2 inhibitors by modifications of the aglycone and glucose moiety of dapagliflozin, an original structural template for almost all C-glycoside SGLT2 inhibitors, was mainly driven by synthetic organic chemistry due to the challenge of designing dapagliflozin derivatives that are patentable, biologically active and synthetically accessible. Structure-activity relationships (SAR) of the SGLT2 inhibitors are also discussed.

An efficient Ni(ClO4)2·6H2O-promoted amidoalkylation reaction for the synthesis of 3-substituted isoindolinones involving various γ-hydroxy lactams and nucleophiles has been successfully developed. The transformation proceeds with both carbon (ketones and arenes) and heteroatom (alcohols, thiols, and amines) nucleophiles and in both intermolecular and intramolecular manners. The prominent features of the present strategy are wide substrate scope, excellent group tolerability, and moderate to good yields (up to 96% yield). The present strategy is also characterized by remarkable superiority over the current synthetic methods. Furthermore, the reaction could be scaled up to the multigram scale.

In order to systematically explore and better understand the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of a diarylmethane backbone in the design of potent uric acid transporter 1 (URAT1) inhibitors, 33 compounds (1a–1x and 1ha–1hi) were designed and synthesized, and their in vitro URAT1 inhibitory activities (IC50) were determined. The three-round systematic SAR exploration led to the discovery of a highly potent novel URAT1 inhibitor, 1h, which was 200- and 8-fold more potent than parent lesinurad and benzbromarone, respectively (IC50 = 0.035 μM against human URAT1 for 1h vs. 7.18 μM and 0.28 μM for lesinurad and benzbromarone, respectively). Compound 1h is the most potent URAT1 inhibitor discovered in our laboratories so far and also comparable to the most potent ones currently under development in clinical trials. The present study demonstrates that the diarylmethane backbone represents a very promising molecular scaffold for the design of potent URAT1 inhibitors.

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