P. E. Finke et al. / Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 11 (2001) 265±270
269
From our initial screening results, there had been hints
that the spiro-piperidine was not required and that a
simple 4-phenylpiperidine might have similar binding
(data not shown). Indeed, this modi®cation in the above
cases aorded very similar results, being within a factor
of three in all cases as exempli®ed with the best 3-chloro
compounds 13d and 16d having IC50s of 10 versus
30 nM. Also, the unsubstituted compound 16b was only
2-fold lower in binding than 16d, the best 3-substituted
compound in this series (IC50=120 nM, racemic, versus
30 nM chiral). Thus, this simpli®ed piperidine derivative
was utilized in a more rigorous exploration of the
phenyl substitution. From these additional derivatives,
other small substituted analogues, such as 3-¯uoro (16l,
IC50=100 nM, racemic), 3-methyl (16m, IC50=80 nM,
racemic), and even 3-ethyl (16n, IC50=110 nM, race-
mic), exhibited potency within 2-fold of 16d. Larger
groups, such as tri¯uoromethyl (16o), methoxy (16p),
and phenyl (16q), all had diminished CCR5 anity.
Surprisingly, the binding of the 4-methyl compound 16r
(IC50=200 nM, racemic) was appreciably better than
would be expected from the 4-Cl (13e) and 4-F (13f
and 16f) results, although the 4-MeO compound (16s)
was inactive. The benign eect of the 4-methyl carried
over to the 3,4-dimethyl derivative (16v, IC50=60 nM,
racemic), which appeared to be equipotent with the
3-chloro 16d, as well as the 3-F,4-Me compound
16x (IC50=110 nM, racemic). However, other 3,4-di-
substitution was generally detrimental as anticipated (see
16u and 16w). Replacement of the central phenyl ring
with a 2- or 3-pyridyl (16y and 16z) resulted in sub-
stantial loss of CCR5 activity. Extension of the phenyl
by a methylene unit was not tolerated as seen with the
benzyl derivatives 27a,b for which there was no appar-
ent activity for any of the four isomers. All the vinyl
intermediates 22 and the des-piperidine compound 23
were inactive (Scheme 2, IC50>4000 nM, data not shown).
The importance of the phenyl was also demonstrated by
the lack of CCR5 anity for the C-3 phenyl isomer 28 and
the des-phenyl compounds 19 and 29 (61, 5, and 20% I at
10,000nM, respectively).
YU-2 strain. As expected, 13d failed to give any inhibi-
tion when the X4-tropic NL4-3 strain was used (data
not shown).
Herein, the results of our SAR study of the central
phenyl ring of lead compound 3 were described. In the
spiro-piperidine series, the 3-chloro derivative 13d was
identi®ed as a having a 4-fold improvement in CCR5
binding anity and resulted in enhanced antiviral inhi-
bition in a PBMC based assay with an IC95 as low as
1500 nM and served thereafter as a standard in this
assay.24 Selectivity for CCR5 was maintained by 13d in
that the IC50's for CCR1, CCR2, CCR3, and CXCR4
were all >10,000 nM. Both 13d and 14d showed modest
pharmacokinetics in the rat at 1 mg/kg iv and 10 mg/kg
oral (t1/2=0.7 and 0.8 h, F=3 and 2%, respectively). In
addition, the unsubstituted compound 13b was found to
be nearly as potent an antagonist as 13d and 14d.
Comparable anity was also found in the 4-phenyl-
piperidine series which allowed identi®cation of other
small substituents, such as 3-F (16i) and 3-Me (16m), as
being nearly equipotent to 3-Cl. These results allowed
the simpli®cation of the synthesis of further piperidine
derivatives as well as other structural modi®cations
which will be reported in the future.
References and Notes
1. For a review of HIV-1 entry mechanisms and current inhi-
bitors, see: Blair, W. S.; Lin, P.-F.; Meanwell, N. A.; Wallace,
O. B. Drug Discovery Today 2000, 5, 183.
2. For a recent chemokine review, see Baggiolini, M.; Dewald,
B.; Moser, B. Annu. Rev. Immunol. 1997, 15, 675.
3. For a review of the co-receptor search, see: Fauci, A. S.
Nature 1996, 384, 529.
4. Liu, R.; Paxton, W. A.; Choe, S.; Ceradini, D.; Martin,
S. R.; Horuk, R.; MacDonald, M. E.; Stuhlmann, H.; Koup,
R. A.; Landau, N. R. Cell 1996, 86, 367.
5. Michael, N. L.; Chang, G.; Louie, L. G.; Mascola, J. R.;
Dondero, D.; Birx, D. L.; Sheppard, H. W. Nature Med. 1997,
3, 338.
6. Bates, P. Cell 1996, 86, 1.
7. Moore, J. P. Science 1997, 276, 51.
8. Cohen, O. J.; Kinter, A.; Fauci, A. S. Immunol. Rev. 1997,
159, 31.
9. D'Souza, M. P.; Cairns, J. S.; Plaeger, S. F. JAMA 2000,
284, 215.
10. Horuk, R.; Ng, H. P. Med. Res. Rev. 2000, 2, 155.
11. Shiraishi, M.; Aramaki, Y.; Seto, M.; Imoto, H.; Nishi-
kawa, Y.; Kanzaki, N.; Okamoto, M.; Sawada, H.; Nishi-
mura, O.; Baba, M.; Fujino, M. J. Med. Chem. 2000, 43, 2049.
12. Dragic, T.; Trkola, A.; Thompson, D. A. D.; Cormier,
E. G.; Kajumo, F. A.; Maxwell, E.; Lin, S. W.; Ying, W.;
Smith, S. O.; Sakmar, T. P.; Moore, J. P. Proc. Natl. Acad.
Sci. U.S.A. 2000, 97, 5639.
13. Dorn, C. P.; Finke, P. E.; Oates, B.; Budhu, R. J.; Mills,
S. G.; MacCoss, M.; Malkowitz, L.; Springer, M. S.; Daughtery,
B. L.; Gould, S. L.; DeMartino, J. A.; Siciliano, S. J.; Carella,
A.; Carver, G.; Holmes, K.; Danzeisen, R.; Hazuda, D.;
Kessler, J.; Lineberger, J.; Miller, M.; Schleif, W. A.; Emini, E.
A. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 2001, 11, 259.
The lead structure 3 was initially characterized in an iso-
lated peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) viral
replication assay23 using the R5-tropic HIV-1 YU-2 iso-
late and gave IC95 values of 6 to 12 mM.13 This activity
indicated that inhibition of viral entry was possible with
these small molecule CCR5 antagonists. With the
enhancement in the CCR5 binding assay obtained with
the 3-chlorophenyl derivative 13d in the spiro-piperidine
series, better results were also seen in this antiviral assay,
giving an IC95 as low as 1500 nM,24 while the sulfone 14d
aorded an IC95 of 3000 nM in the same assay. Use of
the dierent R5-tropic strain SF162 aorded IC95's of
800 and 6000 nM for 13d and 14d, respectively. The
unsubstituted compound 13b also aorded inhibition
similar to 13d in the same assay. The best thiophene
derivative (14j, IC50=50 nM) was not active in this
assay (IC95>25,000 nM). As expected from the CCR5
binding data, the antiviral activity was poorer in the
4-phenylpiperidine series, again the best activity was
seen with the 3-chloro derivative 16d, as well as the 3-
methyl 16m, both having IC95 of 6000 nM against the
14. For a description of the binding assay, see ref 13, footnote
25. The CCR5 binding titrations were usually done in tripli-
cate with standard errors of <15%. Assay-to-assay variability
was generally Æ2-fold based on the standard compound 13d.