C. Francavilla et al. / Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 19 (2009) 2731–2734
2733
I-
Cl-
S+
e,f,g
followed by oxidation, deprotection and N,N-dichlorination, gave
a,b,c,d
41%
S+
Cl
Cbz
Cbz
OH
N
N
H
N
H
54%
the sulfonic acid I. Similarly, a cycloaddition of 16 and (2-azidoeth-
yl)trimethylammonium bromide furnished triazole 18. The re-
moval of N-Boc with HCl, followed by N,N-dichlorination gave
trimethylammonium compound J.
Cl
28
27
Q
j,k,l,g
13%
h,i
44%
Cl
Boc
16
N
Cl-
N+
N
H
Substitution of the sulfonic acid with other water solubilizing
groups, without the backbone modification, were also explored
(Scheme 5 and 6). The syntheses of analogsK, L, and M started with
reactions with the appropriate amines, formaldehyde and 2-nitro-
propane under Mannich conditions13 to give tertiary amines 19, 20
and 21. A common reaction sequence (methylation, nitro reduc-
tion, anion exchange and N,N-dichlorination) was used for the
preparation of K (from 19) and L (from 20) as described earlier
for the synthesis of E. The methylation of 21, unlike previous ana-
logs, failed to give the desired ammonium product. The dichloro-
amine M was obtained through an alternate sequence (nitro
reduction, Cbz protection, methylation, anion exchange and N,N-
dichlorination) in low yield. Compound N was synthesized from
commercially available 2-methyl-1-morpholinopropan-2-amine
22 with di-t-butyl dicarbonate in THF, followed by methylation
with methyl iodide and halide exchange as described earlier, to
provide the quaternary ammonium 23. The removal of N-Boc
group with HCl, followed by N,N-dichlorination, resulted in the for-
mation of the desired N,N-dichloroamino compound N.
Compounds O and P (Scheme 6) were synthesized from the
Cbz-protected 3-amino-3-methylbutanoic acid 2. Coupling of 2
with ammonium chloride under CDI conditions gave the corre-
sponding amide 24. Reaction of 24 with N,N-dimethylformamide
dimethyl acetal or N,N-dimethylacetamide dimethyl acetal,14 fol-
lowed by treatment with methyl hydrazine, gave compounds 25
and 26. Methylation of 25 and 26 with methyl iodide, N-deprotec-
tion under acidic conditions and N,N-dichlorination provided N,N-
dichloro triazole compounds O and P, respectively.
Cl
N
29
R
Scheme 7. Reagents and conditions: (a) AcSH, PPh3, DIAD, THF, À5 to 20 °C, 16 h;
(b) MeOH, 5 N NaOH, 20 °C, 0.5 h; (c) MeOH, MeI, TEA, 20 °C, 16 h; (d) EtOH, MeI,
20 °C, 72 h; (e) AcOH, Ag2O, 0.5 h; 6 N HCl; (f) 10% Pd-C, H2, 0.2% aq HCl, 20 °C, 20 h;
(g) MeOH, t-BuOCl, 20 °C, 1 h; (h) 4-bromopyridine, THF, DIEA, Pd(dppf)Cl2, 20 °C,
16 h; (i) 10% Pd-C, EtOH, 20 °C, 16 h; (j) MeI, 80 °C, 2 h; (k) Ag2O,water, 0.5 h; (l) 4 M
HCl/dioxane, 20 °C, 16 h.
dimethylsulfonium salt 28 was obtained by Mitsunobu esterifica-
tion of 27 with thioacetic acid, followed by de-S-acetylation, S-
methylation to the methyl sulfide, and a second S-methylation to
the dimethylsulfonium iodide.15 The iodide was exchanged for
chloride, with acetic acid added to prevent demethylation. Re-
moval of the Cbz group by hydrogenation under acidic conditions
(to prevent methyl transfer from sulfur to nitrogen), followed by
N,N-dichlorination, gave sulfonium compound Q. The methyl
pyridinium salt R was synthesized from Boc-protected 2-methyl-
3-butyn-2-amine 16. The cross-coupling of 16 with 4-bromopyri-
dine under Sonogashira conditions16 followed by hydrogenation17
furnished compound 29. Conversion of 29 to N-methylpyridium
compound R was accomplished by N-methylation of the pyridine
ring, halide exchange, Boc-deprotection, and N,N-dichlorination.
All compounds were purified by silica gel flash chromatography
or preparative HPLC and their structures were confirmed by 1H
NMR spectroscopy and LC/MS analysis.
Table 1 summarizes antimicrobial assay results and aqueous
solution stabilities for compounds A–R. Both parameters are criti-
cal in assessing the potential of this class of compounds as topical
antimicrobial agents. The minimum bactericidal concentration
(MBC) or minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC) for each com-
pound was evaluated as described previously.4 The biological eval-
uation was carried out for all analogs with sufficient aqueous
solution stability (>24 h at 40 °C). All analogs except M were active
against all organisms tested; there were no significant differences
between the in vitro activities for Gram-positive versus Gram-neg-
ative organisms. Some compounds with either a triazole function-
ality (I, J, O, and P) or an oxadiazole moiety (F) had the same or
better activity against Candida albicans than iii.
The dimethylsulfonium compound Q was synthesized from N-
Cbz-protected amino alcohol 27 (Scheme 7). N-Cbz-protected
Cl
N+
Cl-
b,c,d,e
N
N
O2N
63%
Cl
K
L
19
a
61%
Cl-
b,c,d,e
46%
f
Cl
Cl
N+
NO2
N
20
N
O2N
O2N
98%
Cl
g
7
NAc
O
NAc
N+
c,k,b,l,d,e
6%
Cl-
N+
81%
N
21
N
M
Cl
O
O
Analogs with backbone modifications A–D, F–J were prepared
as ester replacement analogs of vi, which was more stable than
most of the compounds reported in Ref. 4. It became apparent that
a backbone modification containing an ester (D) had good stability
at pH 4; however, it was less stable at pH 7, possibly due to sapon-
ification of the ester functionality.
j,e
h,i,d
78%
N+
Boc
N
Cl
H2N
N
N
Cl-
Cl-
11%
22
H
23
Cl
N
Scheme 5. Reagents and conditions: (a) aq dimethylamine, 37% aq formaldehyde,
50 °C, 1 h; (b) MeI, MeOH, 20 °C, 48 h; (c) Raney Ni, H2 (500 psi), MeOH–H2O, 20 °C,
72 h; (d) Ag2O, water, 0.5 h; then aq HCl; (e) MeOH, t-BuOCl, 0–10 °C, 1 h; (f)
piperidine, 37% aq formaldehyde, 10–50 °C, 1 h; (g) 1-(piperazin-1-yl)ethanone,
37% aq formaldehyde, 10–50 °C, 1 h; (h) di-t-butyl dicarbonate, THF, 20 °C, 16 h; (i)
MeI, 20 °C, 18 h; (j) 4 M HCl/dioxane, 20 °C, 2 h; (k) THF, Cbz-OSu, 20 °C, 16 h; (l)
33% HBr-AcOH, 20 °C, 1 h.
Dimethylammonium salt E and quaternary ammonium salts (K
and L) showed exceptional and surprising stability. They were the
first series of analogs whose stabilities were comparable to com-
pound iii. Most important, the stability of compound K at pH 7 has
been spectacular, and has shown little degradation at elevated tem-
peratures for over a year. Compounds L–N demonstrated, however,
that there are still many factors which can influence compound sta-
bility distal to the dichloroamine. Substitution of the terminal sul-
fonic acid group in the backbone-extended analogs (comparison of
B with C, vi with D, and I with J) with the trialkylammonium group
looked promising in this series of molecules. Triazolium salts (O
and P), dimethylsulfonium salt Q, and pyridinium salt R were pre-
pared as variations on the theme of the trimethylammonium deriv-
ative K. While many of these were promising for acidic solutions,
they lacked the exceptional pH 7 stability of derivative K.
R
R
Cl-
N+
N
N
N
O
b,c
d,e,f
a
Cl
N
2
Cbz
N
Cbz
N
N
H
N
H
NH2
73%
Cl
24
O
25 R=H 22%
R=H 15%
26
P R=Me 2%
R=Me 41%
Scheme 6. Reagents and conditions: (a) CDI, DIEA, NH4Cl, DMF, 20 °C, 16 h; (b) N,N-
dimethylformamide dimethyl acetal (for 25) or N,N-dimethylacetamide dimethyl
acetal (for 26), 120 °C, 2 h; (c) Methyl hydrazine, acetic acid, 90 °C, 2 h; (d) MeI,
MeOH, 70 °C, 16 h; (e) 33% HBr-AcOH, 20 °C, 2 h; (f) Ag2O, water, 0.5 h; then aq HCl;
(g) MeOH–H2O (9:1; v/v), t-BuOCl, 20 °C, 1 h.