ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters
Letter
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Scheme 1. General Synthetic Routes to Phosphinate Esters
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Reagents and conditions: (i) BnBr, K2CO3, acetone, 60 °C, 6 h, (yields 97% and 74% for 4 and 5, respectively); (ii) EtPH(O)OH, Pd(OAc)2,
Xantphos, DIPEA, DME/toluene, 90 °C, 2 h, (yields 71−98%); (iii) (1) SOCl2, DMF, 70 °C, 1−2 h; (2) DIPEA, MeOH, DMAP, CH2Cl2, rt, 30
min (yields 41−85%) or MeOH, rt, 15 min for 9 (yield 81%); (iv) 10% Pd/C, EtOH/CH2Cl2, H2, rt, 3 h (yields 94−96%); (v) CH(OEt)3, PPTS,
xylenes, 140 °C, 3 h (yields 91−95%); (vi) bromoaryl, Pd(PPh3)2Cl2 or Pd(dppf)Cl2, CuI, Cs2CO3, dioxane, 110 °C, 12 h (yields 7−40%) or
bromoaryl, Pd(OAc)2, N-Xantphos, 1 M LiHMDS, DME, 85 °C, 1 h, for 14a, 15 (yields 22 and 12%, respectively) or chloroaryl, In(OTf)3,
dioxane, 100 °C, 24 h, (yield 26%); (vii) (1) ArCOCl, xylenes, 155 °C, 1 h; (2) MsOH, 155 °C, 2−3 h (yields 12−81%).
mid’s main metabolic pathway),15 which is further supported
by reduction in ezutromid’s exposure after repeated dosing in
both healthy volunteers and DMD patients.11−13
pyridyl equivalents were synthesized as they are predicted to
have lower lipophilicity than 2.27
To access the phosphinate esters of the benzo[d]oxazoles,
two main synthetic routes were devised (Scheme 1). In
General Route 1, the phosphinate esters were synthesized first,
followed by cyclization to the benzoxazole, and finally
attachment of the C(2)-aryl via C−H activation. Bromo 2-
nitrophenols were O-benzylated (4−5) and substituted with
phosphinic acid (6−7), and the resulting acids were esterified
to their corresponding ethyl phosphinate esters (8−9).
Subsequent hydrogenation led to 2-aminophenols 10 and 11
in a one-step reduction/deprotection, which in turn gave the
benzo[d]oxazoles 12 and 13 in a reaction with diethoxyme-
thoxyethane in the presence of PPTS. The final products (14−
27) were obtained with C−H activation using Pd(PPh3)2Cl2 or
Pd(dppf)Cl2 and CuI as catalysts. In another variation
Pd(OAc)2, Xantphos, and 1 M LiHMDS, in DME, were
used (14, 15). This led to hydrolysis of the ester in the case of
12, and the resulting phosphinic acid (14a) was reacted with
MeOH to give the final product 14.
A medicinal chemistry program was launched to improve
ezutromid’s suboptimal properties and led to a second
generation of utrophin modulators.16−18 Therein, a dual
strategy was implemented to improve solubility by replacement
of the sulfone moiety and to improve metabolic stability by
replacement of naphthalene with halo- and heteroaryls. A
promising lead molecule from this series (Figure 1,
SMT022357, 2) with an improved ADME profile increased
levels of utrophin protein in skeletal, respiratory, and cardiac
muscles, reduced regeneration, and improved muscle function
when administered orally to mdx mice.16 Further progression
of SMT022357 (2) was halted, due to dose-limiting
hepatotoxicity observed during subsequent maximum tolerated
dose studies in rats. A structurally similar, but less lipophilic,
analogue SMT022332 (Figure 1, (+)-enantiomer 3) was
instead progressed because of its encouraging activity and
efficacy in mdx mice and its improved safety profile.18
General route 2 was described in detail in our previous
work.18 In brief, intermediate 2-arylbromobenzo[d]oxazoles
(28−36) were derived from the condensation of 2-amino-
phenols with the respective acid chloride, followed by acid
catalyzed dehydration. The final products were obtained from
the bromobenzo[d]oxazoles in a Pd-catalyzed cross-coupling
with ethyl phosphinic acid (37−45) and were then converted
to the methyl phosphinate esters through formation of the
phosphinic chloride and reaction with MeOH (46−54).
Utrophin modulation activity was assessed using a reporter
gene assay in the previously reported cell line H2K-mdx utrnA-
luc (H2K), a murine myoblast cell line that contains a stably
integrated 8.4 kb fragment of the human utroA promoter
linked to a firefly luciferase gene.15,16,18 In the reporter gene
assay (Table 1), most of the o-substituted analogues appeared
to be inactive (18, 23, 50, 54); however, the o-difluoromethyl
During these studies, the relationship between lipophilicity
and hepatotoxicity within this compound series was inves-
tigated. Several empirical studies have correlated lipophilicity
with increased nonspecific binding and off-target effects, and a
decreased chance of clinical success.19,20 However, to our
knowledge, there are few published studies that directly
correlate lipophilicity with hepatotoxicity within a compound
series.21−25 Lipophilic compounds are more prone to extensive
metabolism and thus may result more frequently in drug-
induced liver injury (DILI).26 As we observed extensive
metabolism and in vivo hepatotoxicity in rodents with 2, which
translated in in vitro cellular hepatotoxicity for 2 and other
related examples,18 we felt that reducing lipophilicity would be
a good strategy for optimizing the series. To achieve this,
analogues that bear the -CHF2 and -OCHF2 groups and their
B
ACS Med. Chem. Lett. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX