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Inhibition of EGF-induced ERK phosphorylation in HEK 293 cells
Compound p-ERK1/2 Relative
p-ERK5 Relative
phsophorylation (%)a
phsophorylation (%)a
6
7
35.98
12.35
110.05
129.49
70.84
96.27
135.22
78.00
131.53
135.59
100
260.57
461.55
309.67
346.25
331.95
521.18
609.86
436.18
100
9a
9b
9c
10
13
14
16
DMSO
a
Values are means of duplicate experiments, standard deviation is 10%.
Of the compounds examined, the relatively simple compound 6
30. Jain, P.; Chopra, I.; Yi, S.; Flaherty, P. T.; Madura, J. D. Abstracts of Papers, 238th
ACS National Meeting, Washington, DC, United States, August 16–20, 2009,
MEDI.
was shown to display inhibition of EGF-induced phosphorylation
of ERK. Some modest selectivity was observed for the preferential
inhibition of ERK5 phosphorylation relative to ERK1/2 phosphory-
lation. Interestingly, compound 6 was unique among the com-
pounds examined in that no upregulation of ERK1/2
phosphorylation was observed. This compound was submitted
for the NCI 60-cell line screen and was shown to selectively inhibit
the growth of MCF-7 cells in the single dose survey. However, com-
pound 6 was not selected for the subsequent log dose–response
analysis. It has been noted that the MCF-7 cell line displays unique
properties regarding cytosolic effects of ERK5 activity.17
31. Moore, M. D.; Jain, P.; Flaherty, P. T.; Wildfong, P. L. D. Acta Crystallographica,
Section E: Structure Reports Online 2008, E64, o1336.
32. Ishiyama, T.; Itoh, Y.; Kitano, T.; Miyaura, N. Tetrahedron Lett. 1997, 38, 3447.
33. Molander, G. A.; Yun, C.-S.; Ribagorda, M.; Biolatto, B. J. Org. Chem. 2003, 68,
5534.
34. Briem, H.; Guenther, J. Chem.Bio.Chem 2005, 6, 558.
35. Fabian, M. A.; Biggs, W. H.; Treiber, D. K.; Atteridge, C. E.; Azimioara, M. D.;
Benedetti, M. G.; Carter, T. A.; Ciceri, P.; Edeen, P. T.; Floyd, M.; Ford, J. M.;
Galvin, M.; Gerlach, J. L.; Grotzfeld, R. M.; Herrgard, S.; Insko, D. E.; Insko, M. A.;
Lai, A. G.; Lelias, J.-M.; Mehta, S. A.; Milanov, Z. V.; Velasco, A. M.; Wodicka, L.
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36. 1-Isopropyl-6-methoxy-4-nitro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole (5).31
A
well stirred
mixture of 5-methoxy-3-nitrobenzene-1,2-diamine (5.0 g, 27.3 mmol),
NaHB(OAc)3 (17.36 g, 81.9 mmol), and 110 mL of THF was cooled to an
internal temperature of 0 oC. Formic acid (3.77 g, 81.9 mmol) was added with
dropwise addition maintaining the internal temperature below 10 oC. After
stirring an additional 15 min at 0 oC, acetone (7.93 g, 137 mmol, 5 equiv) was
added in one portion. The mixture was stirred overnight. The solvent was
removed in vacuo, and the dark red residue was dissolved in formic acid
(31 mL, 0.85 mol). Butylated hydroxytoluene, BHT, (20 mg, 0.09 mmol) was
added, and the mixture was cooled to 0 °C. Concd HCl (87 mL, 0.95 mol) was
added, and the mixture was brought directly to reflux. After maintaining reflux
for 15 min, the solvent was removed in vacuo at 80 °C. The residue was
Further studies are under way to analyze the biological contri-
bution of and structure variations from compound 6 for inhibition
of EGF-mediated ERK5 phosphorylation.
Acknowledgments
Ms. Darlene Monlish, NIH (NINDS): 1R15NS057772, NIA:
AG025848, and NSF equipment grant: NMR: CHE 0614785.
adjusted to
a pH of 8 with 50% aqueous NaOH then extracted with EA
(4 Â 50 mL). The combined EA extracts were washed (3 Â 10 mL brine) and
dried (Na2SO4). Evaporation of the solvent gave a brown solid, which after
silica gel column chromatography (hexanes/EtOAc 1:1) afforded 4.5 g (74%) of
Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found, in
the desired product as
a yellow solid. Rf 0.32 (CH2Cl2/MeOH/NH4OH
100:10:0.1). mp 127.2–128.1 °C. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): d 8.12 (s, 1H),
7.21 (d, J = 2.3 Hz, 1H), 7.79 (d, J = 2.3 Hz, 1H), 4.58–4.65 (m, 1H), 3.95 (s, 3H),
1.65 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H). Anal. Calcd for C11H13N3O3: C, 56.16; H, 5.57; N, 17.86.
Found: C, 56.45; H, 5.62; N, 17.55.
References and notes
1-Isopropyl-6-methoxy-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-4-aminium chloride. 1-Isopropyl-6-
methoxy-4-nitro-1H-benzo[d]imidazole (833 mg, 3.54 mmol) was dissolved in
EtOH (42 mL) and CHCl3 (8 mL) containing 10% Pd/C (150 mg). The
hydrogenation flask was evacuated and backfilled with H2 three times, and
then shaken under 55 PSI of H2 atmosphere for 12 h at 23 oC. The mixture was
filtered through Celite and the Celite pad was washed with 20 mL additional
EtOH. Evaporation of the solvent gave 841 mg (98%) of the salt as a light green
solid. This material was used directly in the next step.
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N-Benzyl-1-isopropyl-6-methoxy-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-4-amine (6) NaHB(OAc)3
(608 mg, 2.87 mmol, 1 equiv) was added to
a
solution of 1-isopropyl-6-
methoxy-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-4-aminium
chloride (155a, 832 mg,
2.87 mmol) in 1,2-dichloroethane (10 mL) at 23 oC. After stirring for 2 min,
benzaldehyde (457 mg, 4.31 mmol) was added. After stirring for 1 min, a
second amount of NaHB(OAc)3 (914 mg, 4.31 mmol) was added and stirring
was continued for an additional 12 h. Saturated aqueous 8 mL of NaHCO3 (satd,
was added. The mixture was stirred until bubbling was stopped and
aq)
extracted with Et2O (10 mL Â 3). The combined extracts were washed with
NaCl(satd,
and then dried over Na2SO4. Evaporation of the solvent gave a
aq)
brown solid, which was subjected to silica gel column chromatography
(hexanes/EtOAc 2:1 to 1:2, 0.5% Et3N) to afford 790 mg (93%) of the product
as a white solid. Rf 0.58 (CH2Cl2/MeOH/NH4OH 100:10:0.1). mp 81.8 – 83.9 °C.
1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): d 7.72 (s, 1H), 7.25–7.42 (m, 5H), 6.20 (d, J = 2.1 Hz,
1H), 6.03 (d, J = 2.1 Hz, 1H), 5.29 (t, J = 5.4 Hz, 1H), 4.47–4.53 (m, 1H), 3.80 (s,
3H), 1.59 (d, J = 6.8 Hz, 6H). Anal. Calcd for C18H21N3O: C, 73.19; H, 7.17; N,
14.23. Found: C, 73.33; H, 7.03; N, 14.24.
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Carlsbad, CA) with 10% heat-inactivated FBS (Atlanta Biological, Lawrenceville,
GA), and 0.5% penicillin/streptomycin (Gibco, Carlsbad, CA). Cells were