H. Kurata et al. / Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 25 (2015) 690–694
691
heterocycles
F
Cl
alternate
amides
polar substiuents
O
O
limited
F
F
optimization
campaign
F
Cl
N
N
N
N
O
F
N
N
iterative
parallel
synthesis
O
O
1
2, ML375
hM5 IC50 = 3.49 µM
rM5 IC50 = 5.67 µM
r/h M1-M4 IC50s > 30 µM
hM5 IC50 = 300 nM
rM5 IC50 = 790 nM
r/h M1-M4 IC50s > 30 µM
O
heterocycles
polar substiuents
modification
expansion
Figure 1. Structures and mAChR activities of M5 NAM HTS hit 1, and the optimized MLPCN probe ML375 (2). Inset, optimization plan for ML375 to improve rat potency and
physiochemical/disposition properties. Potency values determined via a functional calcium mobilization assay in the presence of a fixed acetylcholine EC80 in recombinant
cells.20
and sp3-hybridized ring systems into the 9b position, while hold-
O
Ar (Het)
ing the 3,4-difluorobenzoyl moiety constant, to assess if we could
improve both physiochemical properties as well as hM5 potency.
Following Scheme 1, analogs 6 were rapidly prepared and
screened against hM5 (Table 2). Once again, SAR was shallow, with
all sp3-based systems, as well as heterocycles, devoid of hM5 activ-
ity. A similar pattern emerged for ethers between analog series 5
and 6, with 6c, the 4-OMe phenyl analog, superior potency (hM5
HO
O
H
N
O
(Het) Ar
Het
(Het) Ar
Het
N
N
a
b
Ar (Het)
R
N
R
R
Het
O
O
3
4
5-7
HO
O
O
IC50 = 1.3 lM), but insufficient to advance as an in vivo probe. As
O
BrZn
c or d
e
before, 6c possessed a lower clogP (4.21), which translated into
improved plasma free fraction (rat fu = 0.064, human fu = 0.037).
Interestingly, the addition of more sp3-character, in the form of
the cyclohexyl congener 6e, led to a higher clogP (5.2) and dimin-
ished free fraction (rat fu = 0.016, human fu = 0.008). In parallel, we
replaced the phenyl ring at the 9b position with the three regioiso-
meric pyridines, and all were not tolerated (hM5 IC50 >5 lM), as
were ring expansions and substitutions of the 1H-imidazo[2,
1-a]isoindol-5(9bH)-one core.
Het
R
O
Het
R
Ar (Het)
R
Het
EtO2C
O
9
8
3
O
Ar (Het)
HO
O
H
N
O
R
R
N
N
a
b
R
O
N
O
At a loss for a rational, singleton approach to build-in hM5
potency and improved physiochemical properties, we elected to
pursue a 3 Â 9 matrix library of analogs 7 to systematically evalu-
ate all the possible combinations of monomers that showed either
hM5 potency enhancement or improved physiochemical properties
(Table 3).22,23 While we have generated, on numerous occasions,
robust, tractable SAR within GPCR allosteric ligand chemotypes,
we have also reported on numerous accounts of chemotypes that
possess shallow or flat SAR,8–11,24 and this matrix library is an
example of the latter. Here, the clear stand-out was racemic
7B-6 (also referred to as VU0652483, hM5 IC50 = 517 nM,
pIC50 = 6.29 0.02), possessing a 3,4,5-trifluorobenzoyl amide and
a 3-methyl-4-methoxy phenyl moiety in the 9b position. Due to
the increased hM5 potency, we evaluated VU0652483 potency at
rat M5 and found submicromolar activity (rat M5 IC50 = 963 nM,
pIC50 = 6.02 0.04) as well. As all of the activity of ML375 resided
in the (S)-enantiomer, we resolved the enantiomers of
VU0652483 via chiral SFC to afford (S)-7B-6 (VU6000181) and
(R)-7B-6 (VU6000180); here again, the (R)-enantiomer was inac-
tive (Fig. 2) and the (S)-enantiomer, VU6000181, possessed all of
the M5 activity (hM5 IC50 = 264 nM, pIC50 = 6.58 0.03, rat M5
IC50 = 516 nM, pIC50 = 6.29 0.05), thus representing the most
potent M5 NAM reported to date and maintaining selectivity versus
O
3
4
5-7
HO
O
O
BrZn
EtO2C
c or d
e
O
R
O
9
8
3
Scheme 1. Reagents and conditions: (a) ethylene diamine, p-TSA, toluene (+1,4-
dioxane), reflux, Dean–Stark trap, or microwave irradiation 130-150 °C 4–77%; (b)
Ar(Het)COCl, CH2Cl2, DIPEA, 16–91%; (c) RMgX, THF, À65 °C to 0 °C or rt, 8–68%; (d)
R-H, AlCl3, PhNO2, rt, 41–88%; (e) (i) RCOCl, cat. Ni(acac)2, THF, rt, (ii) aq NaOH,
EtOH/THF, rt, 31–55%.
In the first round of library synthesis, we held the p-Cl 9b phe-
nyl moiety of ML375 constant, and scanned alternate amides
within a racemic core to provide analogs 5. Here, (Table 1) we
found that heterocycles were generally not tolerated (5i–l) in the
context of the p-Cl 9b phenyl core, but two amide congeners, the
4-isoproxyphenyl (5f) and the 3,4,5-trifluorophenyl (5g), displayed
submicromolar human M5 activity (hM5 IC50s of 790 nM and
610 nM, respectively), yet were less potent than racemic ML375
(5a, hM5 IC50 = 480 nM). Within a conserved series of ethers, hM5
potency, for example, M5 IC50s, was enhanced as steric bulk
increased—OMe (5d) < OEt (5e) < Oi-Pr (5f). Despite the lower
hM5 potency, 5d displayed a moderate improvement in clogP rel-
ative to 5a (4.6 vs 5.2), so we elected to evaluate how diminished
lipophilicity would impact plasma protein binding. While racemic
5a displayed high plasma protein binding (rat fu = 0.031, human
fu = 0.015), binding of 5f was slightly decreased (rat fu = 0.037,
human fu = 0.027). These findings then led us to pursue second
generation libraries where we aimed to incorporate polar, basic
M1–M4 (IC50s >30 l
M).20 Moreover, the clogP for VU6000181 (4.6)
was improved over ML375 (5.2), and this once again translated
into a slight improvement over ML375 (rat fu = 0.031, human
fu = 0.013, rat brain fu = 0.006). In addition, VU6000181 was highly
centrally penetrant (brain/plasma Kp = 2.7 at 0.25 h post-adminis-
tration), yet a high clearance compound in vitro (rat hepatic micro-
some CLINT = 332 mL/min/kg, predicted CLHEP = 57.8 mL/min/kg
and human hepatic microsome CLINT = 359 mL/min/kg, predicted
CLHEP = 19.8 mL/min/kg) and in vivo (rat CLp = 80 mL/min/kg, t1/2
= 65 min, Vss = 4.9 L/kg). The PK profile of VU6000181 rendered it
unsuitable as an in vivo probe.