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J.M. Large et al. / Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 23 (2013) 6019–6024
10. All compounds submitted for biological testing were of P95% purity as
determined by 1H NMR and LC–MS analysis. See Supplementary data for
further details.
12. P. falciparum EC50 values were measured using an in vitro model of malaria
parasite growth. Compounds were diluted into 2% DMSO and added to
parasites 24 h post-invasion in a 96-well plate and incubated under static
conditions. Cells were recovered 48 h later and processed for FACS analysis
using hydroethidine to stain parasite DNA. Data was acquired using a Guava
easyCyte Plus flow cytometer with ExpressPro software. Growth inhibition
to lowering logD in these new analogues, and perhaps more
importantly has promoted a significant increase in ligand lipophilic
efficiency (LLE)22 as compared to compounds such as 2. This
parameter is well-known to offer a useful guide to potency and
lipophilicity during the progression of chemical series from hits to-
wards leads. In addition, we observed promising kinase selectivity
profiles for key examples on screening against a human kinase pa-
nel at 1 l
M concentration,23 as shown in Figure 2. The aryl pyra-
zoles described here thus represent a useful additional possibility
for progressing towards alternative early lead compounds with
good development characteristics.
was calculated using the following formula:
%
growth inhibition =
(1 À [parasitaemia of culture/parasitaemia of control culture]) Â 100.
13. The two-step preparation of 17 from 4 is representative: a solution of 48 (500 mg,
1.61 mmol) in degassed dioxane (10 mL) was treated with PdCl2(dppf)
(0.2 equiv, 0.32 mmol, 263 mg), 1-N-Boc-pyrazole-4-boronic acid pinacol
ester (3 equiv, 4.84 mmol, 1.42 g) and Cs2CO3 (4 equiv, 6.45 mmol, 2.10 g)
and stirred at 90 °C for 18 h. Concentration in vacuo directly onto silica and
flash column chromatography (2–22% 2 M NH3/MeOH in CH2Cl2) gave
In summary, we have shown that replacement of a six-mem-
bered aryl or heteroaryl linker motif with a pyrazole ring is a pro-
ductive strategy for adding useful structural diversity to a series of
imidazopyridazine PfCDPK1 inhibitors. Selected examples pro-
vided a good balance of enzyme affinity and in vitro anti-parasite
activity, lipophilicity and ADME properties, and this structural
class holds promise for future development. Additional work on
further improving the ADME property profile towards additional
in vivo studies is in progress and will be reported in due course.
intermediate 15 (R = Me) (378 mg, 79%) as
a
pale brown gum; 1H NMR
(400 MHz, DMSO-d6) 8.34 (br s, 1H), 8.13 (br s, 1H), 7.69 (s, 1H), 7.68 (d,
J = 9.6 Hz, 1H), 6.96 (d, J = 6.9 Hz, 1H), 6.61 (d, J = 9.6 Hz, 1H), 3.70–3.60 (m,
1H), 2.83–2.77 (m, 2H), 2.21 (s, 3H), 2.12–2.04 (m, 4H), 1.55–1.45 (m, 2H); LC–
MS (ES+APCI) 298 ([M+H]+, 100%); a solution of this intermediate (62 mg,
0.21 mmol) in anhydrous DMF (1 mL) containing 1-fluoro-3-iodobenzene
(1.1 equiv, 0.23 mmol, 0.027 mL), CuI (0.3 equiv, 0.065 mmol, 12 mg) and
Cs2CO3 (2.5 equiv, 0.52 mmol, 170 mg) was stirred under nitrogen at 120 °C for
18 h. The solvent was removed in vacuo and the residue passed through a
Acknowledgments
metal removal cartridge (PolymerLabs, PL-Thiol, 500 mg), eluting with
3
column volumes of methanol. Concentration in vacuo and purification by
preparative LC–MS gave 17 (30 mg, 36%) as an off-white solid; 1H NMR
(400 MHz, DMSO-d6) 9.07 (s, 1H), 8.43 (s, 1H), 7.81 (s, 1H), 7.76–7.70 (m, 2H),
7.74 (d, J = 9.6 Hz, 1H), 7.61–7.56 (m, 1H), 7.23–7.18 (m, 1H), 7.06 (d, J = 6.9 Hz,
1H), 6.67 (d, J = 9.6 Hz, 1H), 3.79–3.70 (m, 1H), 2.83–2.79 (m, 2H), 2.19 (s, 3H),
2.12–2.04 (m, 4H), 1.57–1.47 (m, 2H); LC–MS (ES+APCI) 392 ([M+H]+, 100%).
We thank David Tickle and Sadhia Mahmood (MRCT) for in vitro
ADME data and Munira Grainger (NIMR) for provision of parasites.
We are grateful to Medicines for Malaria Venture for supporting
this project. A.A.H. is funded by the MRC (U117532067) and the
EU FP7 grant agreement 242095 (EviMalar).
Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found,
18. A small number of further benzyl pyrazole analogues were prepared and
tested, but these generally showed lower enzyme affinity (typically 100–
References and notes
500 nM) and in vitro anti-parasite activity (typically >1 lM).
19. Further profiling of additional compounds based on this pyrazolopyrimidine
scaffold will be disclosed in a future publication.
21. A pyrazolopyrimidine analogue of 38 bearing a C-linked piperidine side chain
showed a significant loss of potency against the enzyme (PfCDPK1 IC50 1.1
lM).
23. Kinase selectivity profiling was carried out by the National Centre for Protein
Kinase Profiling at the MRC Protein Phosphorylation Unit (University of
Dundee, UK).
24. Kinases inhibited by 12: PRK2, PKD1, MSK1, MNK1, SmMLCK, CHK1, CHK2,
Aurora B, NUAK1, PIM1, GCK, MINK1, MLK1, MLK3, IRAK4, SRC, LCK, YES1, EPH-
A2, FGF-R1, HER4, VEG-FR. By 27: RSK1, PRK2, CHK1, MELK, NUAK 1, PIM1,
MST2, GCK, MINK1, MLK1, MLK3, IRAK4, SRC, LCK, CSK, YES1, BTK, EPH-A2,
EPH-B3, HER4, VEG-FR. By 36: RSK1, ROCK2, PRK2, MNK1, MNK2, SmMLCK,
PHK, CHK1, MARK3, BRSK2, MELK, NUAK1, CK1, CK2, DRYK1A, PIM1, PAK4,
MST2, GCK, MINK1, MLK1, MLK3, IRAK4, SRC, YES1, BTK, EPH-A2, HER4, VEG-
FR.