M. Packiarajan et al. / Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. xxx (2013) xxx–xxx
3
Boc
Boc
Boc
S
S
Boc
N
a
b
N
c
S
N
N
d
S
N
H2N
Br
NH
Ar
Ar
N
N
O
N
22
23
24
25a - c
26a - c
Scheme 2. Reagents and conditions: (a) Pyrrolidine, cat. PTSA, Azeotropic condition, 2 h, then Sulfur, cyanamide, rt, 16 h, 70%; (b) t-BuONO, CuBr2, DMF, 0 °C to rt, 1 h, 43%;
(c) Aryl alkynes, (Ph3P)2PdCl2, CuI, Et3N, reflux, 1 h, 48–53% and (d) 4 M HCl in dioxane, CH2Cl2, >99%.
O
O
R
R
S
N
S
N
S
N
Ar
N
R
Ar
Ar
a
b
c
27: R = alkyl, cycloalkyl
30
31
S
NH
O
Ar
O
N
S
N
R
S
N
N
N
R
d
Ar
26a - c
N
28: R = alkyl, cycloalkyl
29: R = Aryl and hetAr
Scheme 3. Reagents and conditions: (a) RCHO, NaBH(OAc)3, DCE, rt, 23–58%; (b) RCOCl, Et3N, CH2Cl2, rt or RCO2H, HBTU, Et3N, CH2Cl2, rt, overnight, 40–63%; (c) RSO2Cl, Et3N,
CH2Cl2, rt, 30–60% and (d) (i) 4-NO2C6H4OCOCl, DIEA, rt, 84%, and (ii) R1R1NH, CH2Cl2, Et3N, rt, 25–65%.
based on 10b and 28j. In this letter we report our efforts towards
the synthesis and optimization of such fused thiazole based mGlu5
receptor PAMs.
sumed that the extensive conjugation within these molecules
facilitates Michael type thiol addition to both the alkyne and thia-
zole moieties. We envisioned that reducing conjugation by moving
the carbonyl group exocyclic to the ring would minimize glutathi-
one adduct formation. To test this hypothesis we synthesized ana-
logs 27–31 utilizing the key precursor 26 in a manner similar to a
literature method as shown in Scheme 2.23
N-Boc-piperidin-4-one 22 was heated with pyrrolidine in the
presence of a catalytic amount of p-TsOH for 2 h to yield the enam-
ine, followed by treatment with elemental sulfur and cyanamide to
provide N-Boc-protected thiazolo[5,4-c]piperidine 23 in 70% yield.
Diazotization with t-BuONO in the presence of CuBr2 yielded 2-
bromo-thiazole analog 24 in 43% yield. Subsequent Sonogashira
coupling with aryl alkynes under microwave conditions yielded
N-Boc protected aryl alkynes 25a–c in 48–53% yield.20c N-Boc
deprotection under acidic conditions (4 M HCl in dioxane at 0 °C)
afforded desired 2-(arylethynyl)-4,5,6,7-tetrahydrothiazolo[5,4-
c]pyridine HCl salts 26a–c in near quantitative yield. Reductive
Compounds 10 and 11 were synthesized as outlined in
Scheme 1. Bromination of commercially available N-Boc 2,4-diox-
opiperidine 1220 with NBS in THF afforded bromo derivative 13
in 87% yield. Treatment of compound 13 with thiourea in DMF in
the presence of K2CO3 at 150 °C for 12 h afforded aminothiazole
14 in 68% yield.20 Diazotization using isoamyl nitrite in the pres-
ence of CuBr2 in DMF at 0 °C and warming to room temperature
over a period of 1 h afforded bromothiazole 15 in 39% yield. Sono-
gashira coupling of 2-bromothiazole 15 with aryl alkynes in the
presence of Et3N at 140 °C under microwave conditions yielded
fused thiazoles 10a, c–i in 10–45% yield.20 Base-mediated alkyl-
ation of arylalkynyl thiazole 10a with NaH in THF at 0 °C followed
by addition of methyl iodide afforded compound 10b in 65% yield.
Compounds 11a and b were synthesized from commercially avail-
able bromothiazole carboxylate 17 in five steps. Bromination with
NBS in the presence of AIBN in CCl4 afforded bromomethyl thiazole
18,20d which was treated with an excess of cyclopentylamine or
cyclopropylamine with heating to provide aminoalkyl thiazole es-
ter derivatives 19a and 19b in moderate yield. Saponification using
LiOH resulted in carboxylic acids 20a and 20b and ring closure, by
warming to reflux with HBTU or PyBOP, afforded desired 2-bro-
mothiazolyldihydropyrrolidinones 21a and b in 35–55% yield.
Sonogashira coupling of 2-bromothiazoles 21 with phenylacety-
lene in the presence of Et3N at 140 °C under microwave conditions
yielded fused thiazoles 11a and 11b in 18% and 24% yield
resepectively.20
Table 2
SAR of alkylamine analogs 27
R1
S
N
N
R
27
Compound
R
R1
EC50 (nM) EMax (%) IC50 (nM) Inh. (%)
27a
27b
H
CH3
34
>10,000
110
À8
>10,000
>10,000
À38
3-F CH3
6
Results for conformationally constrained analogs 10 and 11 are
summarized in Table 1. Unsubstituted lactam 10a possesses moder-
ate mGlu5 PAM potency (EC50 112 nM; Emax 243%), while N-methyl-
ation, to provide the corresponding N-methyl analog 10b,
remarkably improves potency (EC50 2.4 nM; Emax 150%). Aryl group
modifications of the NH-lactams had variable effects on potency. For
example, analogs 10d–f possess weak PAM potency while 3-fluoro-
phenyl analog 10c and 3-pyridyl analog 10i (EC50 51 nM; Emax 120%)
maintain similar activity as 10a. Both the 2-methoxy (10g) and 3-
methyl (10h) substituted aryl analogs result in complete loss of po-
tency. Interestingly, cyclopentyl analog 11a exhibits potent PAM
activity (EC50 2.5 nM; Emax 150%) while the corresponding cyclopro-
pyl analog 11b is a fairly potent NAM (IC50 23 nM; Inh. 59%).
Incubation of compound 10b with human microsomes in the
presence of reduced glutathione and NADPH results in the produc-
tion of substantial amounts of glutathione adducts.22 We pre-
27c
27d
27e
H
>10,000
>10,000
110
À6
À2
32
1200
72
51
87
28
3-F
H
>10,000
27f
H
100
180
>10,000
À30
27g
27h
27i
H
>10,000
>10,000
>10,000
À48
À40
À44
650
200
640
94
91
94
3-F
3-F
27j
3-F
H
>10,000
>10,000
À47
400
91
1
O
27k
19
>10,000
aThe mGlu5 EC50 and IC50 FLIPR data were generated using a human mGlu5 cell
line.21