An assay recapitulating the 3′ processing activity of HIV-1 integrase (IN) was used to screen the Boehringer Ingelheim compound collection. Hit-to-lead and lead optimization beginning with compound 1 established the importance of the C3 and C4 substituent to antiviral potency against viruses with different aa124/ aa125 variants of IN. The importance of the C7 position on the serum shifted potency was established. Introduction of a quinoline substituent at the C4 position provided a balance of potency and metabolic stability. Combination of these findings ultimately led to the discovery of compound 26 (BI 224436), the first NCINI to advance into a phase Ia clinical trial.

The pharmaceutical industry has recognized that many drug-like molecules can self-aggregate in aqueous media and have physicochemical properties that skew experimental results and decisions. Herein, we introduce the use of a simple NMR strategy for detecting the formation of aggregates using dilution experiments that can be performed on equipment prevalent in most synthetic chemistry departments. We show that (1)H NMR resonances are sensitive to large molecular-size entities and to smaller multimers and mixtures of species. Practical details are provided for sample preparation and for determining the concentrations of single molecule, aggregate entities, and precipitate. The critical concentrations above which aggregation begins can be found and were corroborated by comparisons with light scattering techniques. Disaggregation can also be monitored using detergents. This NMR assay should serve as a practical and readily available tool for medicinal chemists to better characterize how their compounds behave in aqueous media and influence drug design decisions.

A simple NMR assay was applied to monitor the tendency of compounds to self-aggregate in aqueous media. The observation of unusual spectral trends as a function of compound concentration appears to be signatory of the formation of self-assemblies. (1)H NMR resonances of aggregating compounds were sensitive to the presence of a range of molecular assemblies in solution including large molecular-size entities, smaller multimers, and mixtures of assembled species. The direct observation of aggregates via unusual NMR spectra also correlated with promiscuous behavior of molecules in off-target in vitro pharmacology assays. This empirical assay can have utility for predicting compound promiscuity and should complement predictive methods that principally rely on the computing of descriptors such as lipophilicity (cLogP) and topological surface area (TPSA). This assay should serve as a practical tool for medicinal chemists to monitor compound attributes in aqueous solution and various pharmacologically relevant media, as demonstrated herein.

Optimization of pyridine-based noncatalytic site integrase inhibitors (NCINIs) based on compound 2 has led to the discovery of molecules capable of inhibiting virus harboring N124 variants of HIV integrase (IN) while maintaining minimal contribution of enterohepatic recirculation to clearance in rat. Structure-activity relationships at the C6 position established chemical space where the extent of enterohepatic recirculation in the rat is minimized. Desymmetrization of the C4 substituent allowed for potency optimization against virus having the N124 variant of integrase. Combination of these lessons led to the discovery of compound 20, having balanced serum-shifted antiviral potency and minimized excretion in to the biliary tract in rat, potentially representing a clinically viable starting point for a new treatment option for individuals infected with HIV.

A scaffold replacement approach was used to identifying the pyridine series of noncatalytic site integrase inhibitors. These molecules bind with higher affinity to a tetrameric form compared to a dimeric form of integrase. Optimization of the C6 and C4 positions revealed that viruses harboring T124 or A124 amino acid substitutions are highly susceptible to these inhibitors, but viruses having the N124 amino acid substitution are about 100-fold less susceptible. Compound 20 had EC 50 values <10 nM against viruses having T124 or A124 substitutions in IN and >800 nM in viruses having N124 substitions. Compound 20 had an excellent in vitro ADME profile and demonstrated reduced contribution of biliary excretion to in vivo clearance compared to BI 224436, the lead compound from the quinoline series of NCINIs. KEYWORDS: NCINI, enterohepatic recirculation, biliary excretion, integrase tetramer S ince the discovery of HIV in 1983, it is estimated that about 36 million people have died from AIDS worldwide.1 There has been a continuous search for antiretroviral (ARV) agents to combat HIV, which has led to the discovery of a number of mechanistic classes of replication inhibitors. 9 Recent work has shown that this class of inhibitor binds to an allosteric pocket on the catalytic core domain (CCD) of IN, shifting the oligomerization equilibrium of IN toward the tetrameric state.10−12 This aberrant multimerization negatively impacts viral maturation, which leads to the NCINI antiviral effect. 13,14Recently we disclosed our discovery of the NCINIs, culminating in the identification of BI 224436, the first compound from this mechanistic class to advance into clinical trials. 15 Compound 1 exemplifies the structural features of the prototypical quinolone series. The methyl substitution at C2 orients the C3 acetic acid group, favoring the bioactive form, and C4 bears an aromatic core. We demonstrated the importance of the C3 and C4 substituents in binding to IN CCD, which included hydrogen bonding interactions between the carboxylic acid and the backbone amide protons of residues E170 and H171 of IN. It was found that this interaction was critical to antiviral potency and that there was no tolerated isosteric replacement for the acid. The presence of a carboxylic acid can complicate the development of a lead series into a marketed drug for a number of reasons. 16,17 In the case of BI 224436, we found that the extremely low in vivo clearance of this molecule in rat is attributable to enterohepatic recirculation involving excretion of parent and the corresponding acyl glucuronide into the bile, reentry into the gastrointestinal tract, and reabsorption of parent back into the hepatic portal system. This phenomenon was common to all members of the NCINI class that were evaluated in rat pharmacokinetic experiments. The potential variability of the contribution of enterohepatic recirculation to in vivo clearance across species introduces uncertainty in allometric scaling and prediction of human PK parameters, which can compli...

A full account of the Pd-catalyzed intramolecular reactions of (E)-2,2-disubstituted 1-alkenyldimethylalanes with aryl triflates as an entry into polycarbocyclic structures displaying an ethyl−methyl-substituted all-carbon benzylic quaternary center is herein presented. It was found that the efficiency of the Pd-catalyzed carbon−carbon bond forming process is highly affected by the structure of the starting material, including tether length and aryl substitution pattern; substituting the position ortho to the triflate is mandatory to obtain a good yield of the carbocycle. Moreover, the formation of 1-ethyl-1-methylindanes is facile in comparison to the case for the analogous tetrahydronaphthalenes, for which the competing methyl cross-coupling reaction is equally competent. It was established through labeling studies that the carbon−carbon bond forming events are stereospecific and proceed though the intermediacy of a neopentylic sp3-gem-dimetallic palladio(II) dialkylaluminoalkane species, from which a 1,2-methyl migration from aluminum to carbon occurs. Intramolecular palladium-catalyzed reactions of 1-naphthyl triflates with (E)-2,2-disubstituted 1-alkenyldimethylalanes revealed two competing reaction pathways: arylation with sequential 1,2-alkyl migration from aluminum to carbon and intramolecular 1,2-diarylation, in which the catalytic cycle is terminated by direct arylation of the C(sp3)−Pd(II) bond. Factors such as tether length, additives, solvent polarity, and C−H···Pd interactions between the Pd(II) center and the hydrogen atom at the 8-position all influence not only the pathway taken by the (σ-aryl)palladium(II) complexes but also the subsequent reactivity of the (σ-alkyl)palladium(II) complexes.

No abstract

No abstract