2-Aminoquinazolin-4(3H)-ones were identified as a novel class of malaria digestive vacuole plasmepsin inhibitors by using NMR-based fragment screening against Plm II. Initial fragment hit optimization led to a submicromolar inhibitor, which was cocrystallized with Plm II to produce an X-ray structure of the complex. The structure showed that 2-aminoquinazolin-4(3H)-ones bind to the open flap conformation of the enzyme and provided clues to target the flap pocket. Further improvement in potency was achieved via introduction of hydrophobic substituents occupying the flap pocket. Most of the 2-aminoquinazolin-4(3H)-one based inhibitors show a similar activity against digestive Plms I, II, and IV and >10-fold selectivity versus CatD, although varying the flap pocket substituent led to one Plm IV selective inhibitor. In cell-based assays, the compounds show growth inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 with IC50 ∼ 1 μM. Together, these results suggest 2-aminoquinazolin-4(3H)-ones as perspective leads for future development of an antimalarial agent.

A comprehensive study on the synthesis of 5-fluoroalkyl-substituted isoxazoles starting from functionalized halogenoximes is reported. One-pot metal-free [3 + 2] cycloaddition of CF3-substituted alkenes and halogenoximes bearing ester, bromo, chloromethyl, and protected amino groups was developed for the preparation of 5-trifluoromethylisoxazoles. The target 3,5-disubstituted derivatives were obtained in a regioselective manner in good to excellent yield on up to 130 g scale. 5-Fluoromethyl- and 5-difluoromethylisoxazoles were synthesized by late-stage deoxofluorination of the corresponding 5-hydroxymethyl or 5-formyl derivatives, respectively, in turn prepared via metal-free cycloaddition of halogenoximes and propargylic alcohol. An alternative approach based on nucleophilic substitution in 5-bromomethyl derivatives was found to be more convenient for the preparation of 5-fluoromethylisoxazoles. Reaction of isoxazole-5-carbaldehydes with the Ruppert–Prakash reagent was used for the preparation of (β,β,β-trifluoro-α-hydroxyethyl)­isoxazoles. Utility of described approaches was shown by multigram preparation of side-chain functionalized mono-, di-, and trifluoromethylisoxazoles, for example, fluorinated analogues of ABT-418 and ESI-09.

The electrochemical Shono oxidation of Boc‐protected cyclic amines was revised. The conditions for scalable electrochemical synthesis of cyclic enecarbamates were found. The developed protocol included recycling of the full range of used reagents, favoring to E‐factor reduction according to Green Chemistry requirements. The method opened the way for the convenient preparation of previously uncommon materials, which could become useful synthetic intermediates. Their synthetic potential was evaluated in [2+1] and [2+2] cycloadditions as well as electrophilic functionalization. Moreover, functionalized enecarbamates with carbonyl groups in β‐position were used as latent 1,3‐bielectrophiles in classical heterocyclizations. In a case of the hydrazine, the corresponding unusually decorated pyrazoles were prepared. The proposed methodology is a straightforward tool for the design and synthesis of Medicinal Chemistry relevant building blocks. As examples, 5‐fluoro pipecolic and 3‐fluoro isonipecotic acids were synthesized starting from Boc‐protected esters of the pipecolic and the isonipecotic acids respectively; the 5‐step approach to pyrazole containing α‐aminoacids with different linkers between the aminoacidic and pyrazole moieties was elaborated based on the cheapest commercially available racemic and chiral cyclic α‐aminoacids; the convenient approach to the functionalized tetrahydropyrido[3,4‐d]pyridazines was proposed starting from Boc‐protected ester of the isonipecotic acids.magnified image