ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters
Letter
of that critical position (13k−s). Although no compound from
this set was more potent than 1, substitution in this position
was found to be generally well tolerated, with 9 of the 13
compounds featuring a benzylidene motif substituted only in
the 4-position registering an IC50 between 1 and 4 μM. Five
analogues consisting of heterocyclic rings were also synthesized.
While 13t−13w did not offer protection to cells challenged
with LT, the 5-bromothiophen-2-ylmethylene example (13x)
possessed bioactivity similar to that of 1 (IC50 1.7 μM and 1.4
μM, respectively).
The thiosemicarbazones (19a−c) were synthesized from N-
2,6-dimethylphenyl thiosemicarbazide, 18, and the correspond-
ing benzaldehyde in refluxing ethanol and acetic acid13
(Scheme 3). Substituting the carbonyl of 1 with a thiocarbonyl,
Scheme 3. Synthesis and Bioactivity of 19a−c and 22
The fact that the N1-2,4-difluoro analogue (13f) was notably
more potent than the analogue from 4-fluorobenzaldehyde
(13e) (IC50 = 2.1 μM vs IC50 = 7.0 μM) led us to examine
whether including a fluorine in the 2-position of the N1-ring
would similarly augment the potency of 1. Indeed, compound 2
displayed a significant increase in activity (IC50 = 0.4 μM).
Encouraged by this result, we synthesized and tested
compounds 13y−13ab, which gave IC50 values that were all
larger than the original lead compound 1.
Reagents and conditions: (a) CS2, NaOH, DMF; (b) NH2NH2·H2O,
DMF, 60 °C; (c) 4-BrC6H4CHO, EtOH, HOAc, reflux; (d) MeI,
EtOH, reflux, Na2CO3; (e) NH2NH2·H2O, EtOH, HOAc, reflux; (f)
4-BrC6H4CHO, EtOH, HOAc, reflux.
The effects of modifications made to the semicarbazone core
are compiled in Scheme 2. The imine bond of 1 could be
Scheme 2. Synthesis and Bioactivity of 14, 16, and 17
19a, had little effect on the potency of the compound (IC50
=
1.5 μM) while exacerbating an already problematic solubility
profile. For example, compounds 19b and 19c were poorly
soluble at assay concentrations (cLogP: 19a, 5.8; 19b, 6.0; 19c,
6.1; 1, 5.2) and did not return meaningful dose−response
curves. A significantly more soluble CNH compound (22)
(cLogP: 3.9−4.0) was elaborated from the S-methylation of
(2,6-dimethylphenyl)thiourea,14 20, to give 21, followed by
displacement with hydrazine and condensation with 4-
bromobenzaldehyde to give the hydrazinecarboximidamide,
22. Unfortunately, the bioactivity of this compound was
diminished (IC50 = 13.8 μM).
From the structure−activity relationship data, it was evident
that the most effective photoaffinity probe would contain an
N4-2,6-dimethylphenyl unit, an unmodified semicarbazone
core, and a 4-substituted benzylidene motif at the N1-position.
As the course of phenyl azide photolysis is known to be
sensitive to the substituents of the phenyl azide,15,16 three
photoaffinity labels were designed. The first, 3, would be
predicted by the SAR to provide the highest potency in the in
vitro assay. The second, 4, would consist of a simple phenyl
azide commonly employed in the biochemical literature.17 The
third molecule, 5, would flank the azido group with fluorines, a
modification known to give a longer-lived singlet nitrene that
can more effectively yield genuine insertion products upon
photolysis.18,19
Compounds 3, 4, and 5 were synthesized from 6 and the
desired azido-containing benzaldehyde (4-azidobenzaldehyde
(25), 4-azido-2-fluorobenzaldehdye (26), and 4-azido-2,3,5,6-
tetrafluorobenzaldehyde (27)), in the usual manner. Com-
pound 25 could be obtained from the ethylene acetal of 4-
nitrobenzaldehyde via catalytic hydrogenation and diazotization
followed by reaction with sodium azide.20 In this study we
chose to perform an Ullmann-type coupling with 4-iodobenzyl
alcohol (23) and sodium azide21 followed by oxidation to the
aldehyde (Scheme 4). This protocol was convenient on the
milligram scale and provided access to the previously
undescribed 26 from 4-bromo-2-fluorobenzyl alcohol, 24.
Compound 27 was synthesized according to a known
procedure via an SNAr reaction of sodium azide with
pentafluorobenzaldehyde.18
Reagents and conditions: (a) BH3·THF, 50 °C; (b) MeI, K2CO3,
DMF, rt; (c) BrCH2CCH, K2CO3, DMF, rt; (d) MeNHNH2·H2O,
EtOH, reflux; (e) Ph 2,6-Me2phenyl carbamate, Et3N, DCM, rt.
effectively reduced to the disubstituted hydrazine derivative
(14) using an excess of borane in THF with heating. The
compound was not protective at the concentrations tested. The
1-(4-bromophenyl)ethylidene analogue (15) was synthesized
by the condensation of the semicarbazide 6 with 4′-
bromoacetophenone. This change caused a minor reduction
in potency, with 15 showing an IC50 of 2.5 μM (Table 2). The
semicarbazone core of 1 could be methylated with high
regioselectivity by treatment with iodomethane and K2CO3 in
DMF to give 16. Synthesis of 16 via addition of methyl
hydrazine to 4-bromobenzaldehyde followed by reaction with
phenyl (2,6-dimethylphenyl)carbamate gave a product with
1
identical H NMR and 13C NMR spectra and thus confirmed
the regiochemistry of methylation at the N2-position. The
bioactivity of 16 was not significantly affected compared to that
of 1 (IC50 = 2.0 μM and 1.4 μM, respectively). Incorporating a
propargyl group into this position by alkylation with propargyl
bromide generated 17, which had somewhat impaired
bioactivity (IC50 > 12.5 μM).
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dx.doi.org/10.1021/ml400486k | ACS Med. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 363−367