4-Aryl Pyrrolidines as a Novel Class of Orally Efficacious Antimalarial Agents. Part 1: Evaluation of 4-Aryl- N-benzylpyrrolidine-3-carboxamides

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01972

Identification of novel chemotypes with antimalarial efficacy is imperative to combat the rise of Plasmodium species resistant to current antimalarial drugs. We have used a hybrid target-phenotype approach to identify and evaluate novel chemotypes for malaria. In our search for drug-like aspartic protease inhibitors in publicly available phenotypic antimalarial databases, we identified GNF-Pf-4691, a 4-aryl-N-benzylpyrrolidine-3-carboxamide, as having a structure reminiscent of known inhibitors of aspartic proteases. Extensive profiling of the two terminal aryl rings revealed a structure-activity relationship in which relatively few substituents are tolerated at the benzylic position, but the 3-aryl position tolerates a range of hydrophobic groups and some heterocycles. Out of this effort, we identified (+)-54b (CWHM-1008) as a lead compound. 54b has EC₅₀ values of 46 and 21 nM against drug-sensitive Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 and drug-resistant Dd2 strains, respectively. Furthermore, 54b has a long half-life in mice (4.4 h) and is orally efficacious in a mouse model of malaria (qd; ED₉₉ ～ 30 mg/kg/day). Thus, the 4-aryl-N-benzylpyrrolidine-3-carboxamide chemotype is a promising novel chemotype for malaria drug discovery.

Full text of DOI:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01972

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Article
4-Aryl pyrrolidines as a novel class of orally efficacious antimalarial
agents. Part 1: Evaluation of 4-aryl-N-benzylpyrrolidine-3-carboxamides
Marvin J Meyers, Jianguang Liu, Jing Xu, Fang Leng, Jiantong Guan, Zhijun Liu, Sarah A McNitt, Limei
Qin, Linglin Dai, Hongwei Ma, Dickson Adah, Siting Zhao, Xiaofen Li, Alex J Polino, Armiyaw S Nasamu,
Daniel E Goldberg, Xiaorong Liu, Yongzhi Lu, Zheng-Chao Tu, Xiaoping Chen, and Micky D. Tortorella
J. Med. Chem., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.8b01972 • Publication Date (Web): 11 Mar 2019
Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on March 12, 2019
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4-Aryl pyrrolidines as a novel class of orally efficacious antimalarial agents. Part 1:
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Evaluation of 4-aryl-N-benzylpyrrolidine-3-carboxamides
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Marvin J. Meyers,a,b,* Jianguang Liu,c Jing Xu,c Fang Leng,c Jiantong Guan,c Zhijun Liu,c Sarah
A. McNitt,a,b Limei Qin,d Linglin Dai,d Hongwei Ma,c Dickson Adah,d,e Siting Zhao,d Xiaofen Li,d
Alex J Polino,f Armiyaw S. Nasamu,f Daniel E. Goldberg,f Xiaorong Liu,c Yongzhi Lu,c
Zhengchao Tu,c Xiaoping Chen,d,* and Micky D. Tortorellac,g,*
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a Department of Chemistry, Saint Louis University, Saint Louis, MO, USA 63103
b Center for World Health and Medicine, Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Saint
Louis, MO, USA 63104
c Drug Discovery Pipeline at the Guangzhou Institutes for Biomedicine and Health, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China 510530
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Laboratory of Pathogen Biology, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, Center of
Infection and Immunity, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Guangzhou, China 510530
e University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China 100049
f Departments of Medicine and Molecular Microbiology, Washington University in St. Louis,
Saint Louis, MO, USA 63110
g Legion/Lijien Pharmaceuticals, Guangzhou, China 510530
Keywords: aspartic protease inhibitors, pyrrolidines, antiplasmodial, antimalarial
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Abstract
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Identification of novel chemotypes with antimalarial efficacy is imperative to combat the rise
of Plasmodium species resistant to current antimalarial drugs. We have used a hybrid target-
phenotype approach to identify and evaluate novel chemotypes for malaria. In our search for drug-
like aspartic protease inhibitors in publicly available phenotypic antimalarial databases, we
identified GNF-Pf-4691, a 4-aryl-N-benzylpyrrolidine-3-carboxamide, as having a structure
reminiscent of known inhibitors of aspartic proteases. Extensive profiling of the two terminal aryl
rings revealed a structure-activity relationship in which relatively few substituents are tolerated at
the benzylic position, but the 3-aryl position tolerates a range of hydrophobic groups and some
heterocycles. Out of this effort, we identified (+)-54b (CWHM-1008) as a lead compound. 54b
has EC50 values of 46 nM and 21 nM against drug sensitive Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 and drug
resistant Dd2 strains, respectively. Furthermore, 54b has a long half-life in mice (4.4 h) and is
orally efficacious in a mouse model of malaria (q.d.; ED99 ~ 30 mg/kg/day). Thus, the 4-aryl-N-
benzylpyrrolidine-3-carboxamide chemotype is a promising novel chemotype for malaria drug
discovery.
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Introduction
Efforts at reducing incidents of malaria have stalled in recent years after a decade of progressive
reduction in disease burden. The majority of malaria-related deaths occur in Africa and are caused
by Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal to man of the Plasmodium species. The introduction
of artemisinin and artemisinin combination therapies (ACT) in 2005 led to a remarkable 60%
reduction in mortality rates between 2000-2015.1 However, according to the World Health
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Organization, there were ~219 million new cases of malaria and 435,000 deaths in 2017,
highlighting a leveling out of progress in reducing global malarial disease burden since 2015.2
Furthermore, there are reports of emerging resistance to artemisinin in Southeast Asia.1, 3-4 As the
artemisinins are the only fully effective class of antimalarial drugs available today, it is crucial that
additional antimalarial drugs be developed with new mechanisms of action as the next line of
defense to combat developing resistance to known drugs. These efforts, along with efforts to
control malaria transmission will be needed if successful global eradication of malaria is to be
achieved.
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The Plasmodium parasite has a complex lifecycle including sexual replication in the mosquito
stage and asexual replication in the human liver and blood stages. These lifecycle stages involve
numerous potential opportunities for intervention. The challenge is to identify unexploited
biological targets that will result in effective parasite killing. A broad class of proteases, the
aspartic proteases, have been successfully exploited for the treatment of AIDS—more than 10
FDA approved drugs have been developed that inhibit the HIV aspartic protease. Plasmodium has
multiple aspartic proteases that play key roles in the survival of the parasite in its human host.5-6
Identification of inhibitors of the Plasmodium aspartic proteases has the potential to provide a
novel mechanism for anti-malarial therapies. However, a major challenge to developing protease
inhibitors as drugs is identifying compounds with cellular activity commensurate with their
enzyme inhibition potency. This is often due to poor physicochemical properties, efflux
mechanisms, protein binding or poor target-related biochemical efficiencies.
Rather than focus on a substrate-based inhibitor design approach that may provide potent but
non-drug-like peptidomimetics, we elected to identify known, drug-like aspartic protease
inhibitors with inherent antimalarial cell activity for optimization. We termed this approach as a
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“hybrid target-phenotype drug discovery”. Scientists at GlaxoSmithKine (GSK),7-8 Novartis,9 and
St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital10 recently screened large chemical libraries for antimalarial activity
in a standard Plasmodium falciparum 3D7-infected red blood cell assay. This effort identified
~20,000 compounds with antimalarial activity, and the data were made public. Since a number of
aspartic proteases have been shown to play essential roles in the Plasmodium life cycle, we
hypothesized that aspartic protease inhibitors with antimalarial activity may be acting through one
or more Plasmodium aspartic proteases. Such inhibitors would provide a powerful starting point
for drug discovery: phenotypic hits (cell active) with a limited but efficacious set of potential drug
targets. By mining these databases for aspartic protease-inhibiting chemotypes, we and others have
found multiple inhibitor classes with drug-like properties that may be acting on the parasite
through an aspartic protease mechanism due to their structural similarity to known aspartic
protease inhibitors.11-13 Indeed, we have shown drug-like compounds from the aminohydantoin
series inhibits plasmespins II, IV, V, and X.6, 11 The pyrrolidine class described herein also appears
to be particularly drug-like and is ideal for lead optimization to identify novel clinical candidates
for treatment of malaria.
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In our previous work, we evaluated a set of spiropiperidine hydantoins such as CWHM-505 (1)
(Fig. 1).12 While we were able to improve the potency of this series to sub-100 nanomolar, they
suffered from particularly poor metabolic stability, presumably due to the cleavage of the benzylic
piperidine. A number of pyrrolidine and piperidine-based inhibitors of aspartic proteases BACE,
renin and Pf plasmepsin 2 (PM-II) have been reported in the literature (2-5).14-18 These inhibitors
have been shown to bind to the aspartic acid residues in the active site via the protonated nitrogen
of the pyrrolidine (e.g., PDB ID: 3UFL).14
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Figure 1. Antimalarial spiropiperidine hydantoin and examples of pyrrolidine- and piperidine-
based aspartic protease inhibitors. Common basic group is highlighted in blue.
We were attracted to pyrrolidine as an antimalarial pharmacophore as it would avoid the
primary metabolic liability in our previous work on benzyl piperidines (e.g., 1) as the basic
nitrogen is not substituted in these compounds. Indeed, renin-inhibiting pyrrolidine (4) had been
reported to have a two-hour half-life in rats.15 Using the simple unsubstituted pyrrolidine core
(Fig. 2), we searched the GSK TCAMS and Novartis malaria phenotypic screening databases and
found 45 hits containing this pharmacophore. Many of these hits were aminoquinoline analogs of
chloroquine and amodiaquine and were thus eliminated from our consideration for lack of novel
mechanism of action. Six compounds, however, were members of the unique antimalarial
pharmacophore represented by racemic Novartis compound GNF-Pf-4691 (6; Fig. 2). We
resynthesized GNF-Pf-4691 (6) and assayed it in a SYBR Green Pf 3D7 assay19 and found it to
have an IC50 of 385 nM, within 3-fold of the reported database value. To our delight, we found
this compound to have a 100-fold cytotoxicity selectivity index and an improved metabolic
stability profile in mouse liver microsomes. On the basis of this data, we elected to initiate
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structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies to determine whether this pyrrolidine series should
be pursued for full lead optimization. We independently varied the amide benzyl ring and the
pyrrolidine aryl ring to develop some preliminary SAR and identified the preferred stereoisomers
of the pyrrolidine core. Using this SAR, we combined preferred groups at each position to identify
lead compounds suitable for in vivo efficacy studies.
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Figure 2. Strategy to identify phenotypic protease inhibitor-like hits with drug-like properties
while eliminating liabilities of earlier series.
Results and Discussion
Synthesis. It is well established that trans-3,4-disubstituted pyrrolidines can be readily and
stereo selectively synthesized through a 3+2 cycloaddition reaction using N-(methoxymethyl)-N-
(trimethylsilylmethyl)benzylamine.20-21 Accordingly, racemic trans--unsaturated esters (8)
were prepared by the Wittig reaction and then converted to the corresponding pyrrolidines (9a)
through the unstabilized azomethine ylide generated by TFA (Scheme 1). To simplify preparation
of the final products, the benzyl group was replaced with Boc (9b). Ester hydrolysis followed by
amide coupling and Boc-deprotection yielded the final trans-pyrrolidines (11) as racemates.
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Scheme 1. Synthesis of racemic pyrrolidines. Reagents and conditions: (a) Ph3P=CHCO2Me;
(b) TFA, Me3SiCH2N(Bn)CH2OMe; (c) NH4CO2H, Pd/C; (d) Et3N, Boc2O; (e) LiOH; (f)
ArCH2NH2, HATU; (g) HCl.
Amide benzyl ring SAR. Holding the right-hand side constant as 4-trifluoromethylphenyl, we
systematically modified the terminal amide aryl ring. Initially new analogs were synthesized as
racemates to more efficiently profile the SAR and develop our understanding of the
pharmacophore. Representative analogs are shown in Fig. 3. Substitution on the phenyl ring is
essential for potency. 4-Methoxy (6) and 4-methyl (12; GNF-Pf-3587) groups give 10-fold
increases in potency relative to H (13). The most potent substituent in this position identified to
date is dimethylamine (14), approximately two-fold more potent than the lead methoxy analog.
Conversion of the dimethyl aniline into an indoline ring (15) was tolerated but extending it as a
diethyl aniline (16) reduced potency by 2-3-fold.
CF3






O
N
O
H3C
N
N
R
N
(±)-6
360 nM
(±)-12
460 nM
(±)-13
4300 nM
(±)-14
200 nM
(±)-15
230 nM
(±)-16
600 nM
H
N
H
Figure 3. Initial amide benzyl ring SAR. IC50 values are given as average potency values in
the Pf 3D7 assay (n≥3). Standards chloroquine and artemesinin have IC50 values of 54 ± 0.4 nM
and 33 ± 0.6 nM, respectively.
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Pyrrolidine aryl ring SAR. Holding the amide aryl ring constant as the dimethyl aniline, we
systematically explored SAR of the pyrrolidine aryl ring (Fig. 4). This position is also quite
sensitive to substitution patterns. 4-CF3 (14) is the preferred substituent with t-butyl (19) being an
appropriate replacement, but replacement with methyl (17) or chloro (18) led to 3- to 4-fold
reductions in potency. We also explored potential replacements for the trifluoromethyl group such
as difluoromethyl (20), CF2CH3 (21), and pentafluorosulfide (22-23). These groups were suitable
replacements with IC50 values ranging from 130 to 470 nM.
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F
F
CH3
CF3
CH3
Cl
CHF2
SF5
O
R
SF5
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H
N
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





N
H
(±)-14
200 nM
(±)-17
750 nM 680 nM
(±)-18
(±)-19
190 nM
(±)-20
250 nM
(±)-21
130 nM
(±)-22
470 nM
(±)-23
410 nM
CF3
CF3
F
CF3
CF3
Cl
Cl
CH3
O
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CF3
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Cl
Cl
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Cl
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





(±)-24
140 nM
(±)-25
890 nM
(±)-26
83 nM
(±)-27
340 nM
(±)-28
130 nM
(±)-29
230 nM
(±)-30
170 nM
(±)-31
1800 nM
(±)-32
16000 nM
(±)-33
4400 nM
CF3
N
CF3
S
F3C
F3C
F3C
N
N
N
S
N
S
N
N
O
S
S
S











(±)-34
250 nM
(±)-35
450 nM
(±)-36
220 nM
(±)-37
240 nM
(±)-38
150 nM
(±)-39
270 nM
(±)-40
280 nM
(±)-41
280 nM 1100 nM
(±)-42
(±)-43
1500 nM
(±)-44
5300 nM
Figure 4. Initial pyrrolidine aryl ring SAR. IC50 values are given as average potency values
in the Pf 3D7 assay (n≥3).
3,4-Disubstitution is tolerated and may even be favorable for enhancement of potency (24-29).
For example, with an IC50 of 83 nM, the 4-CF3-3-Cl analog (26) is one of the most potent racemates
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we have identified. 2,4-Disubstitution was less well tolerated leading to 6-8-fold reductions in
potency (25, 27).
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Extension of the aryl ring with phenylether was tolerated in the 4-position (30) but not the 3-
position (31) or as a pyridylether (32). Extending the aryl ring itself led to loss of potency (33).
The phenyl ring itself can be replaced with pyridine without loss in potency (34). Incorporation
of a second ring nitrogen (e.g., pyrimidine 35) leads to modest erosion of potency. A number of
other heterocycles were explored (36-44). Benzothiophenes (36-37, 39), benzofuran (38), and 2-
quinoline (40) were all essentially equipotent with 4-trifluoromethylphenyl (14). Thiophene
analogs designed to mimic the CF3 and t-butyl phenyl group were tolerated as t-butyl (41) but not
so as CF3 (42). Other heterocycles such as thiazole (43) and pyrazole (44) led to >8-fold losses in
potency.
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Pyrrolidine Stereochemical SAR. The stereochemistry of the pyrrolidine was also
investigated (Fig. 5). The cycloaddition chemistry leads to stereospecific formation of the
pyrrolidine ring as a racemic mixture of trans isomers (46a-b). After replacement of the benzyl
groups for Boc groups (47a-b) and hydrolysis of the methyl esters to the acids, the (S)-
benzyloxazolidinone chiral auxiliary coupled to enable resolution of the resulting diastereomers
48a-b (first eluent) and 49a-b (second eluent) by silica gel chromatography. The isolated
diastereomers were then hydrolyzed to furnish the carboxylic acids 50a-b and 51a-b as single
enantiomers. These acids were then coupled to benzylic amines and deprotected to give the final
products 52-55. The absolute stereochemistry was determined by x-ray crystallography for 54b
to be the (3R,4S)-configuration (Fig. 5B).
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CF3
X
CF3
X
CF3
X
(A)
O
O
O
O
O
CF3
e,f
(R)
(S)
a,b
(S)
(R)
O
N
N
O
O
X
(S)
(S)
OHC
N
R
N
N
Bn
Bn
Boc
Boc
9
45a X = N
45b X = CH
46a X = N; R = Bn
48a X = N
48b X = CH
49a X = N
49b X = CH
CF3
X
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c,d
46b X = CH; R = Bn
47a X = N; R = Boc
47b X = CH; R = Boc
c,d
e
e
CF3
CF3
CH3
O
(S)
(R)
X
X
g,h
(S)
N
H
O
O
N
N
(R)
(S)
(S)
(R)
HO
HO
H
(-)-52a X = N
3D7 IC50 = 380 nM
N
Boc
N
Boc
g,h
(-)-52b R = CH
3D7 IC50 = 130 nM
(+)-50a X = N
50b X = CH
(-)-51a X = N
51b X = CH
CF3
CF3
X
(B)
CF3
X
X
CH3
(R)
CH3
O
O
O
(R)
(S)
(R)
(R)
(S)
(S)
N
H
N
(S)
N
H
H
N
N
N
N
H
N
N
H
H
(+)-53 X = N
3D7 IC50 = 116 nM
(+)-54a X = N
3D7 IC50 = 140 nM
(+)-55 X = N
3D7 IC50 = 11,000 nM
(+)-54b (CWHM-1008) R = CH
3D7 IC50 = 51 nM
Figure 5. Synthesis and SAR of pyrrolidine enantiomers 52-55. (A) IC50 values are given
as average potency values in the Pf 3D7 assay (n≥3). Reagents and conditions: (a)
Ph3P=CHCO2Me; (b) TFA, Me3SiCH2N(Bn)CH2OMe; (c) NH4CO2H, Pd/C; (d) Et3N, Boc2O; (e)
LiOH; (f) (S)-4-benzyl-2-oxazolidinone, pivaloyl chloride, TEA, LiCl; (g) ArCH2NH2, HATU; (h)
HCl. (B) ORTEP representation of the crystal structure of 54b as an HCl salt.
There is a modest three-fold difference in potency between (3R,4S)-54a and (3S,4R)-52a
enantiomers with the (3R,4S)-configuration being preferred (Fig. 5A). In contrast, stereochemistry
at the α-benzyl carbon has a dramatic effect on potency with the (S)-Me group being tolerated (53)
and the (R)-Me group being detrimental to potency by >30-fold (55). Comparing pyridine analog
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54a versus phenyl analog 54b shows a nearly 3-fold preference for phenyl. A similar relationship
holds for pyridine analog 52a versus phenyl analog 52b.
7
8
9
Revisiting the amide aryl ring SAR. Having identified the (3R,4S) stereochemistry as
preferred, we revisited our studies on the amide aryl ring SAR using the 4-trifluoropyridine moiety
as the pyrrolidine aryl ring substituent as this would give lower lipophilicity. As described in the
synthesis section, we utilized enantiomer 50a as a synthetic intermediate to derive a series of
analogs. SAR with the 4-trifluoropyridine moiety is shown in Fig. 6. As with the 4-
trifluoromethylphenyl series, the dimethylaniline is preferred (34). Modest changes to pyridine
(56), pyrrolidine (57), and N-pyrazole (58) led to modest to dramatic losses in potency. Other
substitutions (59-61) and extension of the dimethylamine (62) were not tolerated.
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50
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52
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55
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57
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60




N
N
N
N
N
N
CF3
(3R,4S)-58
29,000 nM
(±)-34
250 nM
(3R,4S)-56
1000 nM
(±)-57
640 nM
N
O
R




N
N
H
N
N
Br
F3C
H
(3R,4S)-59
18,000 nM
(3R,4S)-60
1200 nM
(3R,4S)-61
5900 nM
(±)-62
>20,000 nM
Figure 6. Amide aryl ring SAR with 4-trifluoromethylpyridine. IC50 values are given as
average potency values in the Pf 3D7 assay (n≥3).
Pyrrolidines are potent on the drug-resistant Dd2 strain of P. falciparum. With an IC50
value of 51 nM, compound 54b was selected as our lead compound for further profiling. 54b was
profiled in extensive side-by-side studies with chloroquine (CQ) in the multi-drug resistant Dd2
strain of P. falciparum. 54b has equivalent potency to CQ in the Pf 3D7 strain (IC50 = 46 ± 6 nM
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vs. CQ IC50 = 38 ± 2 nM) and 10-fold greater potency than CQ against the multi-drug resistant
Dd2 (IC50 = 21 ± 1 nM vs. CQ IC50 = 196 ± 14 nM).
7
8
9
Inhibition of Aspartic Proteases. Since our original hypothesis was that these pyrrolidines
might be aspartic protease inhibitors, we profiled a select set of seven compounds for inhibition of
human -secretase (BACE1), Pf plasmepsin II (PM-II) and Pf plasmepsin IV (PM-IV) enzymes
(Table 1; entries 1-7). However, none of the seven compounds inhibited these aspartic proteases.
6 was also tested for inhibition of Pf PM-V, PM-IX and PM-X in a knockdown assay (PM-V) and
in western blots looking for PM-IX and X substrate processing in compound-treated parasites but
was found to be inactive against these proteases (data not shown).6, 11, 22-23 Thus it appears that
these pyrrolidines are not inhibitors of plasmepsins II, IV, V, IX or X. To date, we have not
identified a biomolecular target for these pyrrolidines, and we cannot rule out inhibition of other
Plasmodium aspartic proteases.
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11
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23
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34
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49
50
51
52
53
54
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58
59
60
Table 1. In vitro Profiling Data
Pf PM-
IV IC50,
nM
hERG
IC50,
nM
8,950
9,410
4,740
8,540
7,560
2,110
MLM
t1/2,
min
161
35
n.d.
34
33
31
70
n.d.
n.d.
38
Pf 3D7
BACE1 Pf PM-II
hERG/3D7
Ratio
MLM Clint,
µL/min/mg
Entry Cmpd
IC50, nM IC50, nM IC50, nM
1
2
12
14
460
200
600
140
83
170
230
450
140
51
>10,000 >10,000 >10,000
>10,000 >10,000 >10,000
>10,000 >10,000 >10,000
>10,000 >10,000 >10,000
>10,000 >10,000 >10,000
>10,000 >10,000 >10,000
19
47
8
61
91
12
94
>111
>357
627
1.4
6.2
n.d.
6.4
6.7
7.2
3.1
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
3
16
4
24
5
26
6
30
7
34
>10,000 >10,000 >10,000 21,700
8
35
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
n.d.
>50,000
>50,000
32,000
9
10
54a
54b
n.d. = not determined.
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Affinity for the hERG channel. A potential concern with this series is its potential for binding
the hERG channel given all of these compounds contain a basic amine pyrrolidine core.24-25 To
address this, we evaluated ten compounds in this series for hERG binding in a competitive binding
assay (Table 1). Compounds tested have binding affinities for hERG ranging from 2 µM to >50
µM. While some of the compounds have modest 8- to 20-fold hERG/3D7 ratios, our best
compounds had hERG binding affinities of >20 µM and selectivity ratios of 90- to 600-fold.
Compounds with a pyrrolidine phenyl ring (entries 1-6) tended to have stronger affinity for the
hERG channel versus pyridine (34 and 54a) and pyrimidine (35) (entries 7-9). The exception to
this trend is 54b (entry 10) which had a >600-fold selectivity vs. the hERG channel. It is possible
that this is due to this compound being tested as a single enantiomer or the chiral -methyl group
may also reduce hERG potency.
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47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
In vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetics. Six compounds were profiled for metabolic stability
in mouse liver microsomes (MLM; Table 1). All six compounds were moderately to very stable
with MLM half-lives ranging from 31 to 161 min. 12 and 34 and 54b were selected for mouse PK
studies (Table 2). 12 has relatively high clearance and a modest half-life in mice. In contrast, and
34 and 54b have good half-lives and low clearance in mice. 54b was found to have suitable oral
bioavailability for in vivo efficacy studies.
Table 2. Mouse Pharmacokinetic Data
Dose,
mg/kg
CLz,
mL/min/kg
Compound
Route
Animals
t1/2, h
Vz, L/kg
F, %
12
34
34
54b
54b
i.v.
i.v.
p.o.
i.v.
p.o.
4
4
4
4
3
1
2
5
2
5
1.7
6.6
-
4.4
-
52
5.9
-
3.3
-
7.3
3.2
-
1.3
-
-
-
13
-
32
CLz = apparent rate of clearance; Vz = apparent volume of distribution.
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54b is orally efficacious in a mouse model of malaria. Given the oral bioavailability of 54b,
we evaluated it as a tool compound to provide in vivo proof-of-concept in the murine Peters 4-day
suppressive test using P. chabaudi ASCQ (a CQ-resistant strain).19, 26-27 NIH mice were inoculated
with P. chabaudi ASCQ parasitized red blood cells. After 4 h, 54b was dosed orally at 3, 10 and
30 mg/kg/day once daily for four days. Parasitemia levels were determined 24 h after the last
treatment (Table 3). At 30 mg/kg/day, 54b inhibits parasitemia at 98.7%. The dose-response data
allow us to approximate an ED90 of ~20 mg/kg/day and an ED99 of ~30 mg/kg/day. Compound
concentrations in the plasma were determined at 1 h, 6 h and 24 h post dose on the last day of
treatment. Compound concentrations in the plasma (110 nM at 24 h) remained above the Pf 3D7
IC50 (46 nM) for the full 24 h period only for the most fully efficacious dose of 30 mg/kg/day.
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48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
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57
58
59
60
Table 3. In vivo efficacy of pyrrolidine 54b in P. chabaudi ASCQ infected mice.
Plasma Compound Concentration (nM)
% Inh. of
Growth
22.4 ± 11.6
75.2 ± 10.6
98.7 ± 0.2
95.0 ± 1.1
Oral Dose (qd)
1 h
640
1,160
2,150
-
6h
140
960
1,630
-
24 h
0
10
110
-
54b, 3 mg/kg/day
54b, 10 mg/kg/day
54b, 30 mg/kg/day
CQ, 10 mg/kg/day
Inhibition of parasitemia after 4 days of qd oral dosing and plasma compound concentrations on
Day 4. n=6 animals/group.
Conclusions
Herein, we describe the profiling of aryl pyrrolidine carboxamides as a novel class of
antimalarial agents. We have generated an extensive SAR for the terminal aryl rings. The SAR
is rather narrow in that relatively few substituents are permissible without significant losses in
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potency. On the carboxamide aryl ring, dimethylaniline is vastly superior to nearly every
functional group evaluated. On the pyrrolidine aryl ring, para-trifluoromethyl can be replaced by
a limited set of small lipophilic moieties, including t-butyl, CHF2, and CF2CH3. Addition of a
halogen in the meta-position is beneficial. Replacement of the phenyl ring with heterocycles such
as pyridine, pyrimidine, benzofuran and thiophene, is also tolerated. (3R,4S) is the preferred
stereochemistry on the pyrrolidine ring and (S)-Me is preferred in the benzyl position. Out of this
effort, we identified 54b as a lead compound for further profiling. 54b is more potent on the drug
resistant Dd2 strain, has suitable selectivity over the hERG channel, has a long half-life in mice,
and is orally efficacious in a mouse model of malaria (q.d.; ED99 ~ 30 mg/kg/day). Thus,
compound 54b (CWHM-1008) presents a promising lead for optimization as an antimalarial drug
with a low molecular weight, modest lipophilicity, excellent antimalarial potency, and long half-
life oral bioavailability in mice.
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50
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54
55
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60
Experimental Section
General. Commercially obtained reagents were used without further purification. All reactions
were monitored by TLC with silica gel-coated plates. Chemical structures and IUPAC names were
generated
using
CambridgeSoft
ChemDraw
Ultra
10.0
or
CDD
Vault
(www.collaborativedrug.com). Specific rotation value were recorded on AUTOPOL®OJ-H,
4.6mm x 250mm 5 IV-T (λ= 589 nm, 50 mm cell, 20℃). MS analyses were performed on the API
2000 electrospray mass spectrometer in positive/negative ion mode. The scan range was
1
100−1000d. H NMR spectra were recorded on a Bruker AV-400 or 500 MHz spectrometer.
Chemical shifts (δ) are given in relative to tetramethylsilane (δ 0.00 ppm) in CDCl3. Coupling
constants, J, were reported in hertz unit (Hz). All compounds were ≥95% pure by HPLC
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conducted on an Agilent 1260 system using a reverse phase C18 column with diode array detector
and a methanol/water (0.1% NH4OH) gradient unless stated otherwise. HRMS spectra were
recorded on an ABSciex 5600+ instrument.
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Compounds were filtered for PAINS substructures using the PAINS (Pan-assay interference
compounds) filters available at http://fafdrugs4.mti.univ-paris-diderot.fr. 38 of the 47 final
compounds described here have the dialkyl aniline substructure PAIN alert. However, this
substructure is only considered an interference substructure for AlphaScreen technology as they
can be quenchers of singlet oxygen and are not considered general PAINS.28 The assays used
herein are cell-based assays and include correlation of compound potency from cell based assays
to in vivo efficacy models.
(±)-(3R,4S)-methyl1-benzyl-4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-3-
carboxylate (46a). To a stirred solution of methyl (triphenylphosphoranylidene)acetate (20.1 g,
60.0 mmol) in dichloromethane (100 mL) was added 6-(trifluoromethyl)nicotinaldehyde (10.0g,
57.1 mmol) at 0 °C, and then the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 4 h . The
reaction was monitored by TLC (10% ethyl acetate in petroleum ether). The reaction was
concentrated in vacuo. Flash chromatography (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate: 95/5) afforded (E)-
methyl 3-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)acrylate (13.2 g, 99 % yield) as a white solid.
To a stirred solution of (E)-methyl 3-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)acrylate (13.2 g, 57.1
mmol) in dichloromethane (150 mL) was added N-(methoxymethyl)-N-(trimethylsilymethyl)-
benzylamine (17.8 g, 74.3 mmol). The resulting mixture was cooled to 0 °C and a solution of TFA
(0.8 mL, 0.1 eq) in dichloromethane (2.0 mL) was added dropwise. The reaction mixture was
allowed to warm to room temp and stirred for 16 h. The solvent was removed by evaporation in
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vacuo and the resulting oil was purified by flash column chromatography (petroleum ether/ethyl
acetate: 80/20) to give the title compound (16.8 g, 81% yield). MS: m+1=365.3.
7
8
9
(±)-(3R,4S)-1-tert-butyl3-methyl4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-1,3-
dicarboxylate (47a). To a flask was added 46a (16.8 g, 46.2 mmol), ammonium formate (9.2
g,146 mmol), Pd/C (1.7 g, 10%) and MeOH (200 mL). The reaction flask was flushed with argon
three times and then heated at 70°C for 30min. The reaction was cooled to room temp and filtered
through Celite®, rinsing with MeOH (50 mL). To this mixture was added triethylamine (23.3 g,
231 mmol), then cooled to 0 °C and di-tert-butyl decarbonate (30.2 g ,139 mmol) was added
dropwise. The reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temp and stirred for 16 h. The
solvent was removed by evaporation in vacuo and the resulting oil was purified by flash column
chromatography (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate: 80/20) to give the title compound (15.6 g, 90%
yield). MS: m+1=375.2.
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(+)-(3R,4S)-1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-3-
carboxylic acid (51a) and (-)-(3S,4R)-1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-
3-yl)pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid (51a). To a flask was added 47a (15.6 g, 44.4 mmol) and
methanol (150 mL). A solution of LiOH (4.7 g, 111 mmol) in water (100 mL) was added dropwise.
The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 4 h. The most of methanol was removed
by evaporation, diluted with water and basified with hydrochloric acid (2M) to pH 4. The mixture
was extracted with EtOAc (3ｘ150 mL). The combined organic extracts were washed with water
then brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to afford (±)-(3R,4S)-1-(tert-
butoxycarbonyl)-4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid (14.5 g, 91%
yield).
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To a suspension of (±)-(3R,4S)-1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-
yl)pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid (14.5 g, 40.3 mmol) in anhydrous THF (300 mL) was added
triethylamine (10.2 g, 101 mmol). The resulting mixture was cooled to -20 °C and a solution of
pivaloyl chloride (5.8g, 48.4 mmol) in THF (20 mL) was added dropwise. The reaction mixture
was stirred at -20 °C for 2 h and then added LiCl (1.8 g, 44.3 mmol) was added followed by benzyl-
2-oxazolidinone (7.1 g, 40.3 mmol). The reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temp and
stirred for 4 h. The solvent was removed by evaporation in vacuo and the resulting oil was purified
by flash column chromatography (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate: 90/10) to separate the mixture of
48a and 49a.
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The first eluting compound was (3R,4S)-tert-butyl3-((S)-4-benzyl-2-oxooxazolidine-3-
carbonyl)-4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-1-carboxylate (48a) obtained as a white
solid (6.7 g, 32% yield). TLC Rf = 0.52 (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate: 3/1). To a flask was added
48a (6.7 g, 12.9 mmol) and THF (100 mL). A solution of LiOH (1.1 g, 25.8 mmol) in water (25
mL) was added dropwise. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 4 h. The most
of methanol was removed by evaporation, diluted with water and basified with hydrochloric acid
(2M) to pH 4. The mixture was extracted with EtOAc (3ｘ150 mL). The combined organic extracts
were washed with water then brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to afforded
(+)-(3R,4S)-1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic
1
acid (50a) (3.8 g, 82% yield). MS: m-1=359.2. H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ ppm 8.74 (s,
1H), 8.09 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.86 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 3.81 (t, J = 8.8 Hz, 1H), 3.73 (td, J =
8.8,1.6 Hz, 1H), 3.67 (m, 1H), 3.49-3.36 (m, 2H), 3.29 (t, J = 10.0 Hz, 1H), 1.41 (d, J = 8.4 Hz,
9H). []D20 +30.1 (c 0.09, MeOH).
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The second eluting compound was diastereomer (3S,4R)-tert-butyl3-((S)-4-benzyl-2-
oxooxazolidine-3-carbonyl)-4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-1-carboxylate (49a)
obtained as a white solid (7.1 g, 34% yield). TLC Rf = 0.41 (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate: 3/1).
49a was hydrolyzed with LiOH as described above to give (-)-(3S,4R)-1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-4-
(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-3-carboxylic acid (51a) (3.7 g, 75% yield). MS: m-
1=359.2. 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ ppm 8.75 (s, 1H), 8.10 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.87 (d, J
= 8.0 Hz, 1H), 3.81 (t, J = 8.8 Hz, 1H), 3.77-3.66 (m, 2H), 3.44 (br, 2H), 3.30 (t, J = 9.6 Hz, 1H),
1.41 (d, J = 9.6 Hz, 9H). []D20 -30.4 (c 0.13, MeOH).
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(+)-(3R,4S)-N-(4-(dimethylamino)benzyl)-4-(6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-
3-carboxamide (53). To a suspension of 50a (400 mg, 1.11 mmol), 4-(aminomethyl)-N,N-
dimethylaniline (200 mg, 1.33 mmol), HATU (630 mg, 1.66 mmol) in dichloromethane (10 mL)
was added triethylamine (0.31 ml, 2.22 mmol). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temp for
16 h. The mixture was diluted with dichloromethane (30 mL) and washed with saturated sodium
carbonate solution then brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated. The residue
was purified by flash column chromatography (petroleum ether/ethyl acetate: 1/1) to give (330
mg,
(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-1-carboxylate as a white solid.
To suspension of (3R,4S)-tert-butyl3-(4-(dimethylamino)benzylcarbamoyl)-4-(6-
61%
yield)
of
(3R,4S)-tert-butyl3-(4-(dimethylamino)benzylcarbamoyl)-4-(6-
a
(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-yl)pyrrolidine-1-carboxylate (330 mg, 0.67 mmol), in dichloromethane
(6 mL) was added TFA (3.0 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temp for 2 h. The solvent
was removed by evaporation in vacuo and the resulting oil was diluted with dichloromethane (30
mL) and washed with saturated sodium carbonate solution then brine, dried over sodium sulfate,
filtered and concentrated. The residue was purified by flash column chromatography (DCM/NH3
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in MeOH: 20/1) to give the title compound 160 mg (61% yield). 1H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6)
δ ppm 8.67(s, 1H), 8.25(t, J=5.5, 1H),7.96 (d, J=8.0, 1H), 7.83 (d, J=8.0, 1H), 6.86 (d, J=8.5, 2H),
6.58(d, J=8.5, 2H), 4.18(dd, J=14.5, 6.0, 1H), 4.01(dd, J=14.5, 6.0, 1H),3.52(q, J=10.5, 1H), 3.26
(t, J=10.0, 1H), 2.99 (q, J=8.0, 1H), 2.97(q, J=8.0, 1H),2.85 (t, J=10.0, 1H), 2.83 (s, 6H). []D20
+73.2 (c 0.11, MeOH). HRMS (ESI) m/z: [M + H]+ Calcd for C20H24F3N4O 393.1902; found
393.1889.
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(-)-(3S,4R)-N-[(1S)-1-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethyl]-4-[6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-
yl]pyrrolidine-3-carboxamide (52a). The title compound was synthesized from 51a and (S)-4-
(1-aminoethyl)-N,N-dimethylbenzenamine as according to the method described for 53. Yellow
solid (110 mg, 54% yield). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ ppm 8.66 (s, 1H), 8.15 (d, J = 8.0
Hz, 1H), 7.97 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.84 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.06 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 2H), 6.65 (d, J =
8.4 Hz, 2H), 4.79 (m, 1H), 3.36 (m, 1H), 3.30 (1H, overlapped with the peak of H2O), 3.20 (m,
1H), 2.90-2.84 (m, 9H), 1.23 (s, 1H), 1.19 (t, J = 6.8 Hz, 3H). []D20 -122.4 (c 0.12, MeOH).
HRMS (ESI) m/z: [M + H]+ Calcd for C21H26F3N4O 407.2058; found 407.2043.
(-)-(3S,4R)-N-[(1S)-1-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethyl]-4-[4-
(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]pyrrolidine-3-carboxamide (52b).
The title compound was
synthesized from 51b and (S)-4-(1-aminoethyl)-N,N-dimethylbenzenamine as according to the
1
method described for 53. White solid, 95 mg (56% yield). H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ ppm
8.10 (d, J = 8.4Hz, 1H), 7.65 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 2H), 7.47 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 2H), 7.06 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 2H),
6.66 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 2H), 4.79 (m, 1H), 3.49 (q, J = 16.0 Hz, 1H), 3.30 (1H, overlapped with the
peak of H2O), 3.18 (t, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 2.90-2.80 (m, 7H), 2.75 (dd, J = 14.4,8.8 Hz, 1H). []D20 -
156.7 (c 0.10, MeOH). HRMS (ESI) m/z: [M + H]+ Calcd for C22H27F3N3O 406.2106; found
406.2102.
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(+)-(3R,4S)-N-[(1S)-1-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethyl]-4-[6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-
yl]pyrrolidine-3-carboxamide (54a). The title compound was synthesized from 50a and (S)-4-
(1-aminoethyl)-N,N-dimethylbenzenamine as according to the method described for 53. White
solid, 78 mg (48% yield). 1H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ ppm 8.62 (s, 1H), 8.15 (d,J = 8.0 Hz
, 1H), 7.90 (dd, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.81 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 6.78 (d, J = 8.4 Hz, 2H), 6.51 (d, J = 8.8
Hz, 2H), 4.79 (m, 1H), 3.41 (m, 1H), 3.30 (2H, overlapped with the peak of H2O), 3.20 (t, J = 7.2
Hz, 1H), 2.98 (m, 2H), 2.85 (t, J = 6.4 Hz, 1H), 2.83 (s, 6H), 1.24 (d, J = 7.2 Hz, 3H). []D20
+38.3 (c 0.12, MeOH). HRMS (ESI) m/z: [M + H]+ Calcd for C21H26F3N4O 407.2058; found
407.2048.
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(+)-(3R,4S)-N-[(1S)-1-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethyl]-4-[4-
(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]pyrrolidine-3-carboxamide (54b).
The title compound was
synthesized from 50b and (S)-4-(1-aminoethyl)-N,N-dimethylbenzenamine as according to the
1
method described for 53. White solid, 125 mg (63% yield). H NMR (500 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ
ppm 8.09 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.61 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 2H), 7.41 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 2H), 6.83 (d, J = 8.5
Hz, 2H), 6.53 (d, J = 8.5 Hz, 2H), 4.81 (m, 1H), 3.39 (q, J = 17.0 Hz, 1H), 3.28 (t, J = 9.5 Hz,
1H), 3.19 (t, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 2.97 (t, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 3.39 (q, J = 16.0 Hz, 1H), 2.82 (s, 6H), 2.77
(t, J = 10.0 Hz, 1H), 1.25 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 3H). []D20 +39.1 (c 0.14, MeOH). HRMS (ESI) m/z:
[M + H]+ Calcd for C22H27F3N3O 406.2106; found 406.2098.
(+)-(3R,4S)-N-[(1R)-1-[4-(dimethylamino)phenyl]ethyl]-4-[6-(trifluoromethyl)pyridin-3-
yl]pyrrolidine-3-carboxamide (55). The title compound was synthesized from 50a and (R)-4-(1-
aminoethyl)-N,N-dimethylbenzenamine as according to the method described for 53. White solid,
1
102 mg (58% yield). H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d6) δ ppm 8.66 (s, 1H), 8.16 (d, J = 8.0 Hz,
1H), 7.95 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.84 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 7.05 (d, J = 8.0 Hz, 2H), 6.65 (d, J = 8.4
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Hz, 2H), 4.78 (m, 1H), 3.50 (q, J = 15.2 Hz, 1H), 3.30 (2H, overlapped with the peak of H2O),
3.20 (t, J = 8.0 Hz, 1H), 2.87-2.67 (m, 8H), 1.18 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 3H). []D20 +149.6 (c 0.12,
MeOH). HRMS (ESI) m/z: [M + H]+ Calcd for C21H26F3N4O 407.2058; found 407.2057.
Biological Assays. Aspartic protease enzyme assays, mouse liver microsome assays, in vivo
PK studies, in vivo efficacy studies were performed as we have previously described.11
In vitro Antimalarial Assays (3D7 and Dd2). In vitro antimalarial activity was determined by
a malaria SYBR Green I-based fluorescence (MSF) method described previously by Smilkstein et
al.29 with slight modification.30 Stock solutions of each test drug were prepared in DMSO at a
concentration of 20 mM. The drug solutions were serially diluted with culture medium and
distributed to asynchronous parasite cultures on 96-well plates in quadruplicate in a total volume
of 100 µl to achieve 0.5% parasitemia with a 2% hematocrit in a total volume of 100 µl. The plates
were then incubated for 72 h at 37°C. After incubation, 100 µl of lysis buffer with 0.2 µl/ml SYBR
Green I was added to each well. The plates were incubated at 37°C for an hour in the dark and
then placed in a 96-well fluorescence plate reader (Spectramax Gemini- EM; Molecular
Diagnostics) with excitation and emission wavelengths at 497 nm and 520 nm, respectively, for
measurement of fluorescence. The 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) was determined by
nonlinear regression analysis of logistic dose-response curves (GraphPad Prism software).
Antimalarial potency of compounds was determined by this technique for both Plasmodium
falciparum 3D7 (CQ-sensitive) and Dd2 (multi-drug resistant) strains. 3D7 assay results are given
as an average of at least three replicates.
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In vivo Antimalarial Efficacy Suppressive Assay. In vivo antimalarial activity was
determined for 54b against the rodent CQ-resistant Plasmodium chabaudi ASCQ strain according
to the 4-day suppressive test.19, 31 Briefly, 5-week old female NIH mice (n = 6 per group) were
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inoculated i.p. with 2x107 parasitized (Plasmodium chabaudi ASCQ) red blood cells. Thereafter,
the compounds were administered as a suspension in 0.5% carboxymethyl cellulose orally to the
animals once daily at 4 h, 24 h, 48 h and 72 h post inoculation. Groups including a vehicle control
and chloroquine (CQ) as a reference drug were included. Parasitemia levels were determined on
the day following the last treatment (Day 4). Plasma drug concentration was determined by LC-
MS using 100 µL orbital blood plasma sample from Day 3, which was collected at 1 h, 6 h, 24 h
after dosing.
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The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine
and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, reviewed and approved the animal use in these studies.
The animal care and use program is run entirely according to Association for Assessment and
Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care, International (AAALACi) standards and is assured by
the Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW identification number A5748-01).
Fluorescence polarization hERG assay. The inhibition activity of compounds on hERG
potassium channel was determined using Predictor® hERG Fluorescence Polarization Assay Kit
(Life Technologies, Carlsbad, CA, USA). Experiments were performed according to the
manufacturer’s instructions. In brief, the reactions were carried out in 384-well plates including
10 μL of Predictor® hERG Membrane and 10 μL Predictor® hERG Tracer Red with appropriate
amount of compound or positive control. Reactions were incubated for 2 h at room temp and then
read on an EnVision Multilabel Reader (Perkin Elmer, Inc.) using polarized excitation and
emission filters. Data were analyzed using Graphpad Prism 5 (GraphPad Software Inc., San Diego,
CA).
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Supporting Information. Synthetic procedures and characterization data for final products
6, 12-44, and 56-62, 1H and 13C NMR spectra for 54b, and x-ray crystallographic data for 54b.
Molecular Formula Strings are provided as a .csv file. This information is available free of
charge on the ACS Publications Website at DOI:xxx.
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Corresponding Authors. E-mail: MJM: marvin.j.meyers@slu.edu. XC:
chen_xiaoping@gibh.ac.cn. MDT: m.tortorella@gibh.org.
Author Contributions. MJM designed compounds. JL, JX, FL, JG, ZL, HM and SAM
synthesized compounds. LQ, LD, DA, SZ, and X Li tested compounds for antimalarial activity.
AJP, ASN and ZT tested compounds for inhibition of plamepsins. X Liu determined PK of
compounds. YL determined absolute stereochemistry of compounds. ZT determined the hERG
activity of compounds. MJM, DEG, XC and MDT designed and directed the experiments. MJM
and JL wrote the manuscript. All authors have approved of the final version of the manuscript.
Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no competing financial interest.
Funding. Research reported in this publication conducted at Saint Louis University, was
supported by Saint Louis University and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R01AI106498. Research reported in
this publication conducted at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, was supported by Bureau of Science and Information Technology of
Guangzhou Municipality Grant number 2009Z1-E841 and Natural Science Foundation of China
(NSFC) and by the Ministry of Sciences and Technology Key Program (No. 2016YFE0107300).
DEG is supported by the National Institutes of Health under Award Number AI047798. The
content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official
views of Saint Louis University, the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese
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Academy of Sciences, the Natural Science Foundation of China, or the National Institutes of
Health.
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Acknowledgments. The authors would like to thank Dr. Bryan Yeung for helpful discussions
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and Mr. Chris Eickhoff for assaying compounds.
Abbreviations. ACT, artemisinin combination therapy; Pf, Plasmodium falciparum; PM,
plasmepsin; SI, Selectivity Index; TCAMS, Tres Cantos Antimalarial Set; MLM, mouse liver
microsomes; CQ, chloroquine; mg/kg/day, milligrams per kilogram.
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