Blockade of the immunoinhibitory PD-1/PD-L1 pathway using monoclonal antibodies has shown impressive results with durable clinical antitumor responses. Anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 antibodies have now been approved for the treatment of a number of tumor types, whereas the development of small molecules targeting immune checkpoints lags far behind. We characterized two classes of macrocyclic-peptide inhibitors directed at the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway. We show that these macrocyclic compounds act by directly binding to PD-L1 and that they are capable of antagonizing PD-L1 signaling and, similarly to antibodies, can restore the function of T-cells. We also provide the crystal structures of two of these small-molecule inhibitors bound to PD-L1. The structures provide a rationale for the checkpoint inhibition by these small molecules, and a description of their small molecule/PD-L1 interfaces provides a blueprint for the design of small-molecule inhibitors of the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway.

Multicomponent reactions (MCRs), which are located between one- and two-component and polymerization reactions, provide a number of valuable conceptual and synthetic advantages over stepwise sequential approaches towards complex and valuable molecules. To address current limitations in the number of MCRs and the resulting scaffolds, the concept of union of MCRs was introduced two decades ago by Dömling and Ugi and is rapidly advancing, as is apparent by several recently published works. MCR technology is now widely recognized for its impact on drug discovery projects and is strongly endorsed by industry in addition to academia. Clearly, novel scaffolds accessible in few steps including MCRs will further enhance the field of applications. Additionally, broad expansion of MCR applications in fields such as imaging, materials science, medical devices, agriculture, or futuristic applications in stem cell therapy and theragnostics or solar energy and superconductivity are predicted.

The PD-1/PD-L1 interaction has emerged as a significant target in cancer immunotherapy. Current medications include monoclonal antibodies, which have shown impressive clinical results in the treatment of several types of tumors. The cocrystal structure of human PD-1 and PD-L1 is expected to be a valuable starting point for the design of novel inhibitors, along with the recent crystal structures with monoclonal antibodies, small molecules, and macrocycles.

Small-ring cage hydrocarbons are common bioisosteres for para-substituted benzene rings in drug design 1 . The popularity of these structures derives from the superior pharmacokinetic properties they exhibit compared to the parent aromatics, including improved solubility and reduced susceptibility to metabolism 2,3 . A prime example is the bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane motif, which is mainly synthesised by ring-opening of the inter-bridgehead bond of the strained hydrocarbon [1.1.1]propellane with radicals or anions 4 . In contrast, scaffolds mimicking metasubstituted arenes are lacking due to the challenge of synthesising saturated isosteres that accurately reproduce substituent vectors 5 . Here we show that bicyclo[3.1.1]heptanes (BCHeps), hydrocarbons whose bridgehead substituents map precisely onto the geometry of meta-substituted benzenes, can be conveniently accessed from [3.1.1]propellane. We found that [3.1.1]propellane can be synthesized on multigram scale, and readily undergoes a range of radical-based transformations to generate medicinally-relevant carbon-and heteroatom-substituted BCHeps, including pharmaceutical

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