The hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) prolyl hydroxylase (PHD) enzymes represent novel targets for the treatment of anemia, ulcerative colitis, and ischemic and metabolic disease inter alia. We have identified a novel small-molecule inhibitor of PHD, 1-(5-chloro-6-(trifluoromethoxy)-1H-benzoimidazol-2-yl)-1H-pyrazole-4-carboxylic acid (JNJ-42041935), through structurebased drug design methods. The pharmacology of JNJ-42041935 was investigated in enzyme, cellular, and wholeanimal systems and was compared with other compounds described in the literature as PHD inhibitors. JNJ-42041935, was a potent (pK I ϭ 7.3-7.9), 2-oxoglutarate competitive, reversible, and selective inhibitor of PHD enzymes. In addition, JNJ-42041935 was used to compare the effect of selective inhibition of PHD to intermittent, high doses (50 g/kg i.p.) of an exogenous erythropoietin receptor agonist in an inflammationinduced anemia model in rats. JNJ-42041935 (100 mol/kg, once a day for 14 days) was effective in reversing inflammationinduced anemia, whereas erythropoietin had no effect. The results demonstrate that JNJ-42041935 is a new pharmacological tool, which can be used to investigate PHD inhibition and demonstrate that PHD inhibitors offer great promise for the treatment of inflammation-induced anemia.

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The synthesis and SAR of a series of 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridine P2X7 antagonists are described. Addressing P2X7 affinity and liver microsomal stability issues encountered with this template afforded methyl substituted 4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-imidazo[4,5-c]pyridines ultimately leading to the identification of 1 (JNJ 54166060). 1 is a potent P2X7 antagonist with an ED50 = 2.3 mg/kg in rats, high oral bioavailability and low-moderate clearance in preclinical species, acceptable safety margins in rats, and a predicted human dose of 120 mg of QD. Additionally, 1 possesses a unique CYP profile and was found to be a regioselective inhibitor of midazolam CYP3A metabolism.

A single pot dipolar cycloaddition reaction/Cope elimination sequence was developed to access novel 1,4,6,7-tetrahydro-5H-[1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-c]pyridine P2X7 antagonists that contain a synthetically challenging chiral center. The structure-activity relationships of the new compounds are described. Two of these compounds, (S)-(2-fluoro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)(1-(5-fluoropyrimidin-2-yl)-6-methyl-1,4,6,7-tetrahydro-5H-[1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-c]pyridin-5-yl)methanone (compound 29) and (S)-(3-fluoro-2-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-4-yl)(1-(5-fluoropyrimidin-2-yl)-6-methyl-1,4,6,7-tetrahydro-5H-[1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-c]pyridin-5-yl)methanone (compound 35), were found to have robust P2X7 receptor occupancy at low doses in rat with ED values of 0.06 and 0.07 mg/kg, respectively. Compound 35 had notable solubility compared to 29 and showed good tolerability in preclinical species. Compound 35 was chosen as a clinical candidate for advancement into phase I clinical trials to assess safety and tolerability in healthy human subjects prior to the initiation of proof of concept studies for the treatment of mood disorders.

SUMMARYThe purpose of this work was to derive an equation for the rapid estimation of octanol solubilities of organic compounds. Solubilities ranging over 4 orders of magnitude were predicted with an average absolute error of 0.39 logarithmic units using melting point alone. The greatest error in prediction occurred for strongly bonded compounds.

The octanol-air partition coefficient is commonly used to understand the extent of chemical partitioning between the atmosphere and organic matter in the environment. In this study, octanol-air partition coefficients were estimated by generating an expression from combining empirical equations for the molar octanol solubility and saturated vapor pressures of organic compounds. The resultant equation simply estimates octanol-air partition coefficients from boiling points, entropies of boiling, and heat capacity changes on boiling.

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The purpose of this work was to develop an equation to estimate the saturated vapor pressures of organic compounds at ambient temperature. A new equation based on the integrated form of the Clausius-Clapeyron equation was used to estimate the room temperature saturated vapor pressures of 815 organic compounds. It was found to reliably estimate vapor pressures over 15 orders of magnitude with an average absolute error of 0.18 logarithmic units, corresponding to a factor of 1.50.