Bioisosteres
are a useful approach to address pharmacokinetic liabilities
and improve drug-like properties. Specific to developing metalloenzyme
inhibitors, metal-binding pharmacophores (MBPs) have been combined
with bioisosteres, to produce metal-binding isosteres (MBIs) as alternative
scaffolds for use in fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD). Picolinic
acid MBIs have been reported and evaluated for their metal-binding
ability, pharmacokinetic properties, and enzyme inhibitory activity.
However, their structural, electronic, and spectroscopic properties
with metal ions other than Zn(II) have not been reported, which might
reveal similarities and differences between MBIs and the parent MBPs.
To this end, [M(TPA)(MBI)]+ (M = Ni(II) and Co(II), TPA
= tris(2-pyridylmethyl)amine) is presented as a bioinorganic model
system for investigating picolinic acid, four heterocyclic MBIs, and
2,2′-bipyridine. These complexes were characterized by X-ray
crystallography as well as NMR, IR, and UV–vis spectroscopies,
and their magnetic moments were accessed. In addition, [(TpPh,Me)Co(MBI)] (TpPh,Me = hydrotris(3,5-phenylmethylpyrazolyl)borate)
was used as a second model compound, and the limitations and attributes
of the two model systems are discussed. These results demonstrate
that bioinorganic model complexes are versatile tools for metalloenzyme
inhibitor design and can provide insights into the broader use of
MBIs.