Structure-based design of potent and selective leishmania N -myristoyltransferase inhibitors

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jm5011397

Inhibitors of Leishmania N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), a potential target for the treatment of leishmaniasis, obtained from a high-throughput screen, were resynthesized to validate activity. Crystal structures bound to Leishmania major NMT were obtained,

Full text of DOI:10.1021/jm5011397

Brief Article
pubs.acs.org/jmc
Structure-Based Design of Potent and Selective Leishmania
N‑Myristoyltransferase Inhibitors
Jennie A. Hutton,†,∥ Victor Goncalves,†,⊥ James A. Brannigan,‡ Daniel Paape,§,# Megan H. Wright,†,▽
Thomas M. Waugh,†,○ Shirley M. Roberts,‡ Andrew S. Bell,† Anthony J. Wilkinson,‡ Deborah F. Smith,§
Robin J. Leatherbarrow,†,◆ and Edward W. Tate*,†
†Department of Chemistry, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, U.K.
‡Structural Biology Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York YO10 5DD, U.K.
§Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology and Hull York Medical School, University of York, York YO10 5DD,
U.K.
S
* Supporting Information
ABSTRACT: Inhibitors of Leishmania N-myristoyltransferase (NMT), a potential target for the treatment of leishmaniasis,
obtained from a high-throughput screen, were resynthesized to validate activity. Crystal structures bound to Leishmania major
NMT were obtained, and the active diastereoisomer of one of the inhibitors was identified. On the basis of structural insights,
enzyme inhibition was increased 40-fold through hybridization of two distinct binding modes, resulting in novel, highly potent
Leishmania donovani NMT inhibitors with good selectivity over the human enzyme.
resides within an acidic parasitophorous vacuole inside host
cells,9 and the parasite bears a glycoinositolphospholipid coat
that could limit uptake of xenoantibiotics.10
INTRODUCTION
■
The leishmaniases are a spectrum of infectious diseases caused
by protozoan parasites of the genus Leishmania. Cutaneous
leishmaniasis (CL), caused mainly by Leishmania major (Lm),
can lead to permanent scarring and disfiguration, while visceral
leishmaniasis (VL), caused mainly by Leishmania donovani
(Ld), is often fatal due to failure of the host immune system.
The leishmaniases are endemic in 88 countries, 72 of which are
low-income,1 and is a major health issue with an estimated 0.2−
0.4 million cases of VL, 0.7−1.2 million cases of CL, and a
conservative estimate of 20000−40000 deaths per year.2
Treatment of leishmaniasis has previously been dominated by
the use of pentavalent antimonials which are toxic, painful to
administer, and require long treatment regimens;3 resistance
has also developed to these antimonials in India.4 Some
progress has been made in the last 10 years in the development
of safer, more easily applied therapeutics with the development
of lipid formulations of amphotericin B, miltefosine, and
paromomycin. However, side effects are common and
resistance to these therapies may still be a problem,5 thus the
need for new antileishmanials remains high.6,7 Despite these
issues, development of new antileishmanial drugs is limited8
and compounded by challenges of cell permeability. The
amastigote form of the parasite most relevant to human disease
N-Myristoyltransferase (NMT), an enzyme ubiquitous in
eukaryotes, catalyzes the transfer of myristate (a 14-carbon fatty
acid) to the N-terminal glycine of target proteins,11 either
cotranslationally12 or post-translationally.13 Between 0.5% and
3% of the cellular proteome is predicted to be N-
myristoylated,14 and this modification is vital for multiple
regulatory processes, including protein−protein interactions
and protein stability.15−17 Inhibition of NMT therefore has
pleiotropic effects on cellular function. NMT has been shown
to be essential in a range of parasitic organisms including
Leishmania,18 and small-molecule cytotoxic inhibitors have
been developed for NMTs in parasitic organisms including
Trypanosoma brucei19 and Plasmodium species.20−22 Inhibition
of Leishmania NMT therefore represents a rational drug target
for development of new therapeutics for this neglected tropical
disease.14,23,24
The NMT enzyme operates via a Bi−Bi mechanism, with
myristoyl CoA (MyrCoA) binding to the enzyme first and
Received: July 30, 2014
© XXXX American Chemical Society
A
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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
Brief Article
inducing a conformational change before binding of the peptide
substrate. The myristate group is then transferred to the N-
terminal glycine of the peptide before sequential release of the
myristoyl peptide and reduced CoA products.25,26 The
structures of several parasitic NMTs have been reported19,27,28
and show a conserved binding site for MyrCoA. The peptide-
binding region is less conserved between different species and
therefore presents a target for selective inhibition of NMTs
from different species.29
A recently published high-throughput screen (HTS) of a
diverse subset of the Pfizer corporate collection against
LdNMT, Plasmodium falciparum NMT, and the two human
isoforms (HsNMT1 and HsNMT2) revealed four novel series
of Leishmania-selective NMT inhibitors.30 Here we report the
development of highly potent LdNMT inhibitors based on
structure-guided fusion of two of these series; piperidinylin-
doles, exemplified by PF-03393842 1, and aminoacylpyrroli-
dines, exemplified by PF-03402623 2 and PF-03402619 3
(Chart 1).
and nitro group, yielded amine 6.31 Reaction with para-
fluorophenylacetyl chloride followed by Boc deprotection gave
piperidinylindole 1.
Compound 2 was synthesized as a mixture of two
diastereoisomers, as it was unclear from the original report
whether the stereochemistry at the pyrrolidine ring in the HTS
hit was relative or absolute. It was envisaged that the preferred
stereochemistry could be identified by cocrystallization of the
mixture with Leishmania NMT. The pyrrolidine core was
accessed as a racemic mixture by cycloaddition of benzyl-
(methyoxymethyl)[(trimethylsilyl)methyl]amine 9 and trans-
methyl 4-chlorocinnamate 8 in the presence of catalytic TFA to
give trans-pyrrolidine 10 (Scheme 2).32,33 The benzyl
a
Scheme 2. Synthesis of Aminoacylpyrrolidine 2
Chart 1. Leishmania-Selective Hits from Screening of a
Subset of the Pfizer Compound File30
a
Reagents and conditions: (a) 9, TFA, DCM, 0 °C to rt, 24 h, 88%;
(b) (i) 1-chloroethyl chloroformate, toluene, 110 °C, 3 h, (ii) MeOH,
reflux, 30 min; (c) 12, EDCI, HOBt, DIPEA, DMF, 4 h, 55% over 2
steps; (d) LiBH4, THF, 3 h, 71%; (e) TFA, DCM, 2 h, 31%.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
■
Synthesis and Validation of Hits. To validate the HTS
results, synthesis of both piperidinylindole 1 and the most
potent aminoacylpyrrolidine 2 was carried out. Synthesis of 1
was achieved in four steps from 5-nitro indole (Scheme 1).
Condensation of 5-nitro indole 4 with N-Boc-4-piperidone,
followed by concurrent reduction of the resulting double bond
protecting group was removed using 1-chloroethyl chlorofor-
mate34 to avoid the use of reductive methods in the presence of
the aromatic chlorine prior to amide coupling with acid 12 to
obtain amide 13. Reduction of the ester followed by Boc
deprotection proceeded smoothly to afford 2 as a mixture of
two diastereoisomers.
Testing of compounds 1 and 2 against LdNMT and
HsNMT1 in our previously reported CPM assay35 confirmed
the results of the HTS, with both compounds showing
selectivity for LdNMT over HsNMT1 (Table 1). The hits
were also tested against related LmNMT, which has been
shown to be more amenable to X-ray crystallography19,36 and
were shown to have comparable activity to LdNMT.
a
Scheme 1. Synthesis of 1
Table 1. Enzyme Activity Data (Results from HTS in
Brackets)30
a
b
LdNMT IC50
LmNMT
HsNMT1
EC50
LD50
compd
(μM)
IC50 (μM) IC50 (μM)
(μM)
(μM)
1
2
0.31 (0.102)
0.080 (0.093)
0.55
63 (73)
>30
>45
a
0.031
4.7 (5.2)
10−30
8−16
Reagents and conditions: (a) pyrrolidine, N-Boc-4-piperidone, EtOH,
rt, 3 days, 80%; (b) NH4HCO2, EtOH, Pd/C, 2 h, 96%; (c) para-
fluorophenylacetyl chloride, Et3N, THF, 2 h, 92%; (d) 6 M HCl, IPA,
2 h, 43%.
a
b
EC50 in extracellular Ld amastigotes; LD50 in bone marrow derived
mouse macrophages
B
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Compounds were also tested against extracellular amastigotes
of Leishmania donovani and against bone marrow derived
macrophages to determine toxicity (Table 1).37 Compound 1
displayed no cell activity up to 30 μM, although no toxicity was
observed. Compound 2 showed an EC50 between 10 and 30
μM, however, the compound was also toxic to macrophages at
this concentration.
X-ray Crystallography. Our first strategy to optimize these
NMT inhibitors was to drive down enzyme potency using
structure-guided design. To elucidate the binding mode of the
HTS hits and the preferred stereochemistry of 2, crystal
structures of ternary complexes of LmNMT (97% sequence
homology with LdNMT) and myristoyl-CoA cofactor were
obtained for both resynthesized hits, as recently reported.36
Both inhibitors were shown to bind in the peptide binding
region. The structure of compound 1 bound to LmNMT
revealed a direct interaction between the basic piperidine
nitrogen and the C-terminal carboxylate of the enzyme
(Leu421) (Figure 1). This type of charge−charge interaction
Figure 2. Inhibitor 2a (pink) bound in the peptide binding pocket of
LmNMT (green). MyrCoA in blue. PDB code: 4cgl.
a
Scheme 3. Synthesis of 2a and 2b
Figure 1. Inhibitor 1 (blue) bound in the peptide binding pocket of
LmNMT (green). PDB code: 4cgn.
has previously been observed with other NMT inhibitors in
Plasmodium NMT20,21 and via a bridging water molecule in
LmNMT.19 The indole adopts an equatorial position off the
piperidine ring in a hydrophobic pocket, and the amide
carbonyl is orthogonal to the indole ring, forming hydrogen
bonds to Tyr345 and Asn376.
a
Reagents and conditions: (a) (i) oxalyl chloride, DCM, DMF, 0 °C,
30 min, (ii) 17, Et3N, LiCl, 15 h, 29%; (b) 9, TFA, DCM, 0 °C to rt,
24 h, 18a 36%, 18b 25%; (c) CO(OMe)2, NaOMe, DCM, 15 h, 10a
48%, 10b 40%.
The cocrystal structure of 2 bound to LmNMT displays a
unique binding mode compared to previously reported NMT
inhibitors; the conformation of the inhibitor appears to be
governed by a hydrophobic collapse38 that folds the aromatic
rings into a hairpin conformation about the flexible linker, with
the chlorophenyl substituent of the pyrrolidine ring sandwiched
between the edge of Tyr345 below and Tyr217 above. The
inhibitor takes up a compact conformation in which its surface
area is almost completely buried by the protein and MyrCoA.
Interestingly, the key charge−charge interaction between the
basic amine and Leu421 is not seen (Figure 2). Instead, the
primary amine is adjacent to the thioester of MyrCoA and
makes bridging contacts with the backbone carbonyl of Thr203
and the side chain of Asn167. The hydroxyl group is actually
closest to the C-terminal leucine carboxylate (2.6 Å), and there
is a potential hydrogen bond between the amide carbonyl and
Thr203 (Figure 2).
Cycloaddition yielded diasteroisomers 18a and 18b, which
could be separated by column chromatography and were
assigned by comparison with reported 1H NMR data39
(Scheme 3). Removal of the oxazolidinone gave esters 10a
and 10b from which 2a and 2b were synthesized, respectively,
using the route detailed in Scheme 2.
Enzyme inhibition assays confirmed that diastereoisomer 2a
was more active with an IC50 of 25 nM against LdNMT, with
2b exhibiting 60-fold lower potency and 4-fold lower selectivity
for LdNMT over HsNMT1 (Table 2).
A crystal structure was also obtained for 2b bound to
LmNMT. The structure shows a similar hydrophobic collapse
of the ligand and that the key functional groups (the primary
Table 2. Enzyme Activity Data for Diastereoisomers 2a and
2b
As expected, the crystal structure shows a single diaster-
eoisomer (2a, Scheme 3) bound to the enzyme. To confirm
that 2a is the most active isomer, both diastereoisomers (2a
and 2b) were synthesized separately using enantiopure
oxazolidinone 17 for the cycloaddition reaction (Scheme 3).
compd
LdNMT IC50 (μM)
HsNMT1 IC50 (μM)
2
0.080
0.025
1.7
4.7
1.4
24
2a
2b
C
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a
amine and alcohol) of both diastereoisomers are superimposed
in the active site (circled, Figure 3). However, as a result of
Scheme 4. Synthesis of 19 and 20
Figure 3. Overlay of I 2b (cyan) and 2a (pink) bound in the peptide
binding pocket of LmNMT obtained by alignment of the protein main
chain atoms (distances in Å). PDB code for 2b: 4cyn.
maintaining these interactions, the scaffold is twisted such that
the amide carbonyl no longer forms the hydrogen bond with
Thr203 seen in the structure of 2a.
Hybridization of Binding Modes. Comparison of the
distinct binding modes of hits 1 and 2 showed that the benzo-
ring of the indole in 1 and the aromatic substituent of the
pyrrolidine in 2 bind in the same region (Figure 4a). For this
a
Reagents and conditions: (a) 9, TFA, DCM, 0 °C to rt, 24 h, 79%;
(b) SnCl2, EtOH, 2 h, 87% (c) R = H, Ac2O, Et3N, DCM, 2 h, 65%, R
= pF-Ph para-fluorophenylacetyl chloride, Et3N, DCM, 2 h, 42%; (d)
(i) 1-chloroethyl chloroformate, toluene, 110 °C, 3 h, (ii) MeOH,
reflux, 30 min; (e) EDCI, HOBt, DIPEA, 12, DMF, 4 h, R = H 41%
over 2 steps, R = cpF-Ph 43% over 2 steps; (f) LiBH4, THF, 3 h; (g)
TFA, DCM, 2 h, R = H 61% over 2 steps, R = pF-Ph 34% over two
steps.
Table 3. Enzyme and Cell Activity Data
a
b
LdNMT Ki
(nM)
HsNMT1 Ki
EC50
LD50
compd pKa
(nM)
(μM)
(μM)
1
10.0
8.9
8.9
8.9
8.9
8.9
254
63
28505
2124
631
>30
>45
8−16
12−24
12−24
>90
2
10−30
10−30
10−30
>50
2a
2b
19
20
43
17
1406
110
1.6
10857
4910
27
Figure 4. (a) Overlay of binding modes of 1 (blue) and 2a (pink). (b)
Proposed hybrid structures 19 and 20.
10−30
10−30
12−24
>24
59
1710
a
reason, it was hypothesized that addition of a para-fluorophenyl
acetamide ortho- to the chlorine atom in this ring in compound
2 may significantly improve potency (Figure 4b). This could
potentially introduce hydrogen bonding between the acetamide
carbonyl and Tyr345 and Asn376 and allow 2 to extend into
the same hydrophobic pocket as 1. To determine whether an
acyl group would be sufficient to increase potency by addition
of the hydrogen bond, or whether the hydrophobic bulk of the
para-fluorophenyl group would be required, both the acyl and
para-fluorophenyl acetamide derivatives of 2 were synthesized
(19 and 20, respectively, Figure 4b).
To allow the addition of an acetamide in the correct position,
synthesis of the pyrrolidine core was carried out using 3-nitro,
4-chloro cinnamate 21 (Scheme 4). Selective reduction of the
nitro group with tin(II) chloride then provided an aniline
moiety for formation of the required amide bond. Both the acyl
derivative 19 and para-fluorophenyl derivative 20 were
synthesized using the route shown in Scheme 4.
EC50 in extracellular Ld amastigotes (for comparison, EC50 for the
widely used antileishmanial drugs amphotericin B and miltefosine in
this assay are 50 and 7850 nM, respectively.) LD50 in bone marrow-
derived mouse macrophages.
b
X-ray crystal structures of 20, 1, and 2 bound to LmNMT
demonstrates that 20 binds as designed and that all interactions
with the enzyme are conserved (Figure 5 and Figure S1,
Supporting Information).
Cell Testing. Despite the greater enzyme inhibition
achieved by hybrid compound 20, no improvement in cell-
Testing of the hybrid compound 19 showed that the acyl
group was tolerated but did not improve potency. However,
addition of the para-fluorophenyl group in compound 20 led to
an IC50 at the lower measurement limit of the biochemical
assay. In this case, converting to Ki using the Cheng−Prusoff
equation for tight binders is more informative40,41 (Table 3).
Introduction of the para-fluorophenyl group led to a 40-fold
decrease in Ki against LdNMT (Ki = 1.6 nM). Alignment of the
Figure 5. Overlay of hits 1 (blue), 2 (pink), and hybrid 20 (white;
PDB code 4cyo) bound to LmNMT obtained by alignment of the
protein main chain atoms.
D
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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
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a
based activity was seen (Table 3). This highlights that simply
driving down enzyme potency in this compound series is
insufficient to increase cellular activity against this challenging
target organism. The diastereoisomers of 2 were also tested
separately, and both displayed an EC50 of 10−30 μM and an
LD50 of 12−24 μM, demonstrating that both activity and
toxicity are unrelated to NMT inhibition for these compounds.
We hypothesized that the lack of cell-based activity for this
series of compounds is due to lack of cellular uptake and thus,
insufficient target engagement. Compounds 1 and 2 and
derivatives synthesized here all contain a basic center (pKa 10.0
and 8.9 respectively) which would be charged at physiological
pH, with a potentially adverse effect on membrane perme-
ability.
Scheme 6. Synthesis of Alcohol 43
Replacement of the Primary Amine. As the crystal
structures of the aminoacylpyrrolidines show that the amine
does not make the key charge−charge interaction with the C-
terminal carboxylate observed previously in other series, we
considered replacing the primary amine with a less basic
moiety. It was envisaged that the amine could be replaced with
an alcohol without loss of hydrogen bonding, potentially
generating a potent, neutral NMT inhibitor. To synthesize this
neutral compound, acid 35 was synthesized from 4-
chlorophenylacetyl chloride 32. Reaction with Meldrum’s acid
followed by hydrolysis gave ketone 33, which was subsequently
reduced. Hydrolysis of the resulting ester gave the acid 35
(Scheme 5).
a
Reagents and conditions: (a) (i) oxalyl chloride, DCM, DMF, 0 °C,
30 min, (ii) 16, Et3N, LiCl, 15 h, 45%; (b) 9, TFA, DCM, 0 °C to rt,
24 h, 38a 40%; (c) CO(OMe)2, NaOMe, DCM, 15 h 36%; (d) SnCl2,
EtOH, 2 h, quantitative; (e) para-fluorophenylacetyl chloride, Et3N,
DCM, 2 h 55%; (f) (i) 1-chloroethyl chloroformate, toluene, 110 °C, 3
h, (ii) MeOH, reflux, 30 min; (g) DMC, 35, Et3N, DCM, 15 h, 27%
over 2 steps; (h) LiBH4, THF, 2 h, 25%.
tagging22 in Ld amastigotes (Figure S3, Supporting Informa-
tion) demonstrated that despite replacement of the primary
amine, target engagement consistent with a Ki of 59 nM was
not achieved, supporting our hypothesis that the lack of cell-
based activity for these compounds is due to poor cellular
uptake.
a
Scheme 5. Synthesis of Acid 35
Despite the potential of NMT as a drug target in Leishmania,
these organisms are known to be difficult to target, due in part
to their cell surface coats, a key component of Leishmania
virulence and survival.9,10 Advances in potency and particularly
physicochemical properties will be required to progress this
series of compounds and to chemically validate Leishmania
NMT as a drug target in vivo.
a
Reagents and conditions: (a) (i) Meldrum’s acid, pyridine, DCM,
0 °C, 30 min then rt, 15 h, (ii) EtOH, reflux, 2 h, 70%; (b) NaBH4,
MeOH, 0 °C to rt, 1.5 h, 40%; (c) LiOH, MeOH/H2O 99%.
CONCLUSION
■
Two Leishmania NMT-selective HTS hits have been
resynthesized and their activities validated. Crystal structures
of these inhibitors identified their binding modes and, in the
case of compound 2, identified the active diastereoisomer. The
crystal structures were used to increase enzyme affinity through
hybridization of the two independent binding modes, and this
led to the discovery of a highly potent inhibitor of LdNMT.
The unusual binding mode of the aminoacylpyrrolidines
allowed the replacement of the primary amine, leading to
compound 43, a potent and neutral NMT inhibitor. Although
poor uptake appears to lead to a lack of cell activity for these
compounds, elucidation of the binding modes of these inhibitor
series along with their hybridization provides a useful starting
point for the development of LdNMT inhibitors with improved
physicochemical properties.
This acid was then used to synthesize the alcohol analogue of
hybrid 20 (Scheme 6). As acid 35 was synthesized as a racemic
mixture, pyrrolidine 39 was synthesized as a single enantiomer
in order to give the hybrid alcohol 43 as a mixture of only two
diastereoisomers (Scheme 6). The hybrid alcohol 43 was tested
for its enzyme activity and showed reduced activity compared
to the corresponding amine (Table 3). However, the activity for
this neutral compound is comparable to the original primary
amine hit 2, and selectivity over HsNMT1 is maintained.
The crystal structure of alcohol 43 bound to LmNMT
appeared to overlay well with that of amine 20 (Figure S2,
Supporting Information, PDB code 4cyq). However, closer
inspection revealed a slight difference in the position of the
amine versus the alcohol in these two structures. The primary
amine of 20 forms a hydrogen bond to the backbone carbonyl
group of Thr203 at a distance of 2.9 Å. When this amine is
replaced with an alcohol in compound 43, the corresponding
oxygen is 3.5 Å away, reducing its potential to hydrogen bond.
Testing against extracellular amastigotes showed no improve-
ment in activity for compound 43 compared with the original
hits or the hybrid amine (Table 3). Metabolic chemical
EXPERIMENTAL SECTION
■
The purity of final compounds was determined by reversed-phase LC-
MS on a Waters 2767 system and was ≥95% for all tested compounds.
( )(3R,4S)-Methyl 1-Benzyl-4-(4-chlorophenyl)pyrrolidine-
3-carboxylate (10). TFA (20 μL, 0.20 mmol) was added to a
solution of 9 (1.04 mL, 4.06 mmol) and chlorocinnamate 8 (400 mg,
E
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Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
Brief Article
2.03 mmol) in DCM (40 mL) at 0 °C, and the solution was stirred
(rt) for 24 h. Saturated aqueous NaHCO3 (40 mL) was added, and the
phases were separated. The organic layer was dried over Na2SO4 and
the solvent removed under reduced pressure. The crude residue was
purified by column chromatography (1:9 EtOAc−hexane, Rf 0.25) to
MyrCoA-2b), 4cyo (LmNMT-MyrCoA-20), and 4cyq
(LmNMT-MyrCoA-43).
AUTHOR INFORMATION
■
1
give the product 10 as a colorless oil (590 mg, 88%). H NMR (400
Corresponding Author
MHz,CDCl3) δ 7.41−7.27 (m, 9H), 3.76−3.68 (m, 5H), 3.68−3.63
(m, 1H), 3.16−3.03 (m, 2H), 3.02−2.96 (m, 1H), 2.86 (dd, J = 8.3,
6.4 Hz, 1H), 2.77 (dd, J = 9.4, 5.8 Hz, 1H).
*Phone: +44 (0) 20 7594 3752. E-mail: e.tate@imperial.ac.uk.
Present Addresses
∥For J.A.H.: Wolfson Institute for Biomedical Research,
University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK.
(3R,4S) Methyl 1-((R)-3-((tert-Butoxycarbonyl)amino)-4-(4-
chlorophenyl)butanoyl)-4-(4-chlorophenyl)pyrrolidine-3-car-
boxylate (13). 1-Chloroethyl chloroformate (327 μL, 3.03 mmol)
was added to a solution of 10 (500 mg, 1.51 mmol) in toluene (30
mL), and the solution was stirred at 110 °C for 3 h. The reaction was
cooled to room temperature, and the solvent was removed under
reduced pressure. The residue was dissolved in methanol (30 mL), and
the solution was heated at reflux for 30 min before cooling to room
temperature. The solvent was removed under reduced pressure to give
513 mg of yellow oil. Then 150 mg of this oil was dissolved in DMF
(7.5 mL), and acid 12 (216 mg, 0.69 mmol) was added, followed by
EDCI (132 mg, 0.69 mmol), HOBt (93 mg, 0.69 mmol), and DIPEA
(120 μL, 0.69 mmol). The solution was stirred at room temperature
for 4 h. EtOAc (10 mL) was added, and the mixture was washed with
saturated aqueous NaHCO3 (10 mL), water (3 × 10 mL), and brine
(10 mL). The solvent was removed under reduced pressure and the
residue purified by column chromatography (1:1 EtOAc−hexane, Rf
0.35) to give the product 13 as a colorless oil (186 mg, 55%) as a
mixture of diastereoisomers and as a mixture of amide rotamers by 1H
NMR at room temperature. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.38−7.24
(m, 4H), 7.23−7.08 (m, 4H), 5.68 (br s, 1H), 4.18−3.97 (m, 2H),
3.85−3.42 (m, 6H), 3.27−3.10 (m, 1H), 3.10−3.00 (m, 1H), 2.97−
2.85 (m, 1H), 2.50−2.40 (m, 2H), 1.45−1.38 (m, 9H).
⊥For V.G.: Universite
́
de Bourgogne, ICMUB UMR 6302
CNRS, 21078 Dijon, France.
#For D.P.: Wellcome Trust Centre for Molecular Parasitology,
University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8TA, UK.
▽For M.H.W.: TU Munchen, D-85748 Garching, Germany.
̈
○For T.M.W.: Department of Chemistry, University College
London, London WC1H 0AJ, UK.
◆For R.J.L.: Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool L1
2UA, UK.
Author Contributions
All authors have given approval to the final manuscript.
Notes
The authors declare no competing financial interest.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
■
The authors are grateful to Mark Rackham and Zhiyong Yu for
valuable discussions, Johan Turkenburg and Sam Hart (York)
for help with X-ray data collection, and Diamond Light Source
(Harwell, UK) for synchrotron facilities. This work was
supported by The Wellcome Trust (grant 087792).
tert-Butyl ((R)-1-(4-Chlorophenyl)-4-(((3S,4R))-3-(4-chloro-
phenyl)-4-(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolidin-1-yl)-4-oxobutan-2-yl)-
carbamate (14). LiBH4 (3 mg, 0.13 mmol) was added to a solution
of 13 (18 mg, 0.04 mmol) in dry THF (1 mL). The solution was
stirred for 3 h (rt). Water was added (2 mL), followed by DCM (2
mL), and the phases were separated. The organic layer was dried over
MgSO4 and the solvent removed under reduced pressure to give the
product 14 as a colorless oil (12 mg, 71%) as a mixture of
ABBREVIATIONS USED
■
Ld, Leishmania donovani; Lm, Leishmania major; NMT, N-
myristoyltransferase; Hs, Homo sapiens; CPM, 7-diethylamino-
3-(4′-maleimidylphenyl)-4-methylcoumarin; MyrCoA, myristo-
yl-CoA
1
diastereoisomers and as a mixture of amide rotamers by H NMR at
1
room temperature. H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3) δ 7.36−7.24 (m,
4H), 7.17 (m, 4H), 5.89−5.59 (br s, 1H), 4.18−3.86 (m, 2H), 3.77−
3.63 (m, 2H), 3.61−3.09 (m, 4H), 3.04 (m, 1H), 2.95−2.84 (m, 1H),
2.54−2.38 (m, 2H), 1.46−1.36 (m, 9H).
REFERENCES
■
(R)-3-Amino-4-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-((3S,4R)-3-(4-chlorophen-
yl)-4-(hydroxymethyl)pyrrolidin-1-yl)butan-1-one (2). TFA (11
μL, 0.11 mmol) was added to a solution of 14 (12 mg, 0.02 mmol) in
DCM (1 mL), and the reaction was stirred at for 2 h (rt). The solvent
was removed under reduced pressure, and the crude residue was
purified by preparative LCMS (method B) to give the product 2 as a
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1
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ASSOCIATED CONTENT
* Supporting Information
Experimental procedures and characterization of all com-
pounds, assay procedures, X-ray data collection and statistics,
and additional figures. This material is available free of charge
via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.
■
S
Accession Codes
The coordinates and structure factor files have been deposited
in the Protein Data Bank with accession codes 4cgn (LmNMT
MyrCoA-1), 4cgl (LmNMT-MyrCoA-2a), 4cyn (LmNMT-
F
dx.doi.org/10.1021/jm5011397 | J. Med. Chem. XXXX, XXX, XXX−XXX

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