Further structure-activity relationship studies of a series of substituted uracils at the 1, 3, and 5 positions resulted in the discovery of several potent antagonists of the human gonadotropin-releasing hormone receptor. Uracils bearing a side chain derived from phenylglycinol at the 3-position were shown to be orally bioavailable in monkeys. 3-[(2R)-Amino-2-phenylethyl]-1-(2,6-difluorobenzyl)-5-(2-fluoro-3-methoxyphenyl)-6-methylpyrimidin-2,4-dione (R-13b, NBI 42902) displayed subnanomolar binding affinity (K(i) = 0.56 nM) and was a potent functional antagonist (IC(50) = 3.0 nM in Ca(2+) flux assay) at the human GnRH receptor. It also bound to the monkey GnRH receptor with high affinity (K(i) = 3.9 nM). In addition, R-13bhad good plasma exposure in cynomolgus monkeys after oral administration, with a C(max) of 737 ng/mL and an AUC of 2392 ng/mL.h at a 10 mg/kg dose. Moreover, oral administration of R-13b to castrated male cynomolgus monkeys resulted in a significant decrease in serum levels of luteinizing hormone. These results demonstrate that compounds from this series of uracils are potent GnRH antagonists with good oral bioavailability and efficacy in nonhuman primates.

[reaction: see text] 2-[4-(tert-Butoxycarbonyl)piperazinyl]benzylidene-tert-butanesulfinamides underwent nucleophilic 1,2-addition with different organometallic reagents to give highly diastereomerically enriched adducts. X-ray crystallography of the resulting alpha-branched N-Boc-2-piperazinylbenzyl-tert-butanesulfinamides confirms different mechanisms depending on the organometallic reagent used. Differential deprotection of the N-Boc and the tert-butanesulfinamides was investigated, and the dehydration byproducts have been identified and characterized. To avoid the formation of byproducts in the acidic deprotection step, the N-tert-butanesulfinamide group was converted to the corresponding N-tert-butanesulfonamide (Bus), which allowed for clean orthogonal deprotection. The efficient synthesis and deprotection of the N-Boc-2-piperazinylbenzyl-tert-butanesulfinamides herein described constitutes an attractive method for extensive structure-activity studies in the search for novel ligands of the human melanocortin 4 receptor.

SAR studies of 7-phenylpyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrimid-4-ones 1 and 2, and 2-phenylimidazolo[1,2-a]pyrimidines 3 and 4, as nonpeptide human GnRH receptor antagonists, lead us to believe that the aromatic ring at position-2 of 4 is no longer crucial for the binding once an aryl group is incorporated at postion-6. We report here the use of a 2-alkyl group on the imidazolo[1,2-a]pyrimidone core to generate potent GnRH receptor antagonists. This discovery enabled us to obtain smaller but equally potent GnRH receptor antagonists.