Identification of a Novel Oxadiazole Inhibitor of Mammalian Target of Rapamycin
We performed a biochemical screen against mTOR using in-house small molecule library. Two novel, structurally distinct hits were identified. Among them, a novel oxadiazole scaffold compound (2) suppressed the phosphorylation of both S6K1 and Akt1 in HeLa cells. Docking study suggested that 2 is ATP-competitive and shows a pi-pi interaction with Trp2239 and hydrogen bonds with Trp2239 and Thr2245. Through derivatization, a slightly more potent analogue (2a) was identified with IC50 of 9.6 μM. Our study provides a starting point for discovery of novel potent mTOR inhibitors.
Novel benzimidazole derivatives as phosphodiesterase 10A (PDE10A) inhibitors with improved metabolic stability
In this study, we report the identification of potent benzimidazoles as PDE10A inhibitors. We first identified imidazopyridine 1 as a high-throughput screening hit compound from an in-house library. Next, optimization of the imidazopyridine moiety to improve inhibitory activity gave imidazopyridinone 10b. Following further structure-activity relationship development by reducing lipophilicity and introducing substituents, we acquired 35, which exhibited both improved metabolic stability and reduced CYP3A4 time-dependent inhibition.
Efficient methods for the synthesis of 2-hydroxyphenazine based on the Pd-catalyzed N-arylation of aryl bromides
(Chemical Equation Presented) Substituted diphenylamines can be synthesized by Pd(0)-catalyzed N-arylation using o-nitroanilines and nitro-substituted aryl bromides for a substrate. Cyclization of the diphenylamines by various methods, including the intramolecular Pd(0)-catalyzed N-arylation, produces 2-methoxyphenazine which can easily be deprotected to give 2-hydroxyphenazine. This phenazine is required to synthesize methanophenazine, a novel redoxactive cofactor isolated from methanogenic archaea.