C. Chen et al. / Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 14 (2004) 3669–3673
3673
Schmidt, A. W.; Seeger, T.; Seymour, P.; Tingley, F. D.,
III; Winston, E. N.; Chen, Y. L.; Heym, J. PNAS 1996, 93,
10477.
oxy moiety and a group larger than the methyl. The 3-
phenyl group was open to multiple methoxy substitu-
ents, but did not tolerate acidic and basic functionalities
at the para-position. Introducing a polar moiety at the 2-
position was somewhat successful. The 2-hydroxymethyl
(22) and 2-sulfoxide (28) analogs possessed acceptable
binding affinities and proper lipophilicities.
3. For a recent review, see: Grigoriadis, D. E.; Haddach, M.;
Ling, N.; Saunders, J. Curr. Med. Chem. 2001, 1,
63.
4. (a) Chen, C.; Webb, T. R.; McCarthy, J. R.; Moran, T. J.;
Wilcoxen, K. M. WO 9,729,109, 1997; (b) Wustrow, D. J.;
Capiris, T.; Rubin, R.; Knobelsdorf, J. A.; Akunne, H.;
Davis, M. D.; MacKenzie, R.; Pugsley, T. A.; Zoski, K.
T.; Heffner, T. G.; Wise, L. D. Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett.
1998, 8, 2067; (c) Gilligan, P. J.; Baldauf, C.; Cocuzza, A.;
Chidester, D.; Zaczek, R.; Fitzgerald, L. W.; McElroy, J.;
Smith, M. A.; Shen, H. L.; Saye, J. A.; Christ, D.; Trainor,
G.; Robertson, D. W.; Hartig, P. Bioorg. Med. Chem.
2000, 8, 181.
5. (a) Chen, C.; Dagnino, R., Jr.; De Souza, E. B.; Grigor-
iadis, D. E.; Huang, C. Q.; Kim, K. I.; Liu, Z.; Moran, T.;
Webb, T. R.; Whitten, J. P.; Xie, Y. F.; McCarthy, J. R. J.
Med. Chem. 1996, 39, 4358; (b) Webster, E. L.; Lewis, D.
B.; Torpy, D. J.; Zachman, E. K.; Rice, K. C.; Chrousos,
G. P. Endocrinology 1996, 137, 5747; (c) Arai, K.; Ohata,
H.; Shibasaki, T. Neurosci. Lett. 1998, 255, 103; (d)
Griebel, G.; Simiand, J.; Steinberg, R.; Jung, M.; Gully,
D.; Roger, P.; Geslin, M.; Scatton, B.; Maffrand, J.-P.;
Soubrie, P. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2002, 301,
333.
6. Hsin, L.-W.; Tian, X.; Webster, E. L.; Coop, A.; Caldwell,
T. M.; Jacobson, A. E.; Chrousos, G. P.; Gold, P. W.;
Habib, K. E.; Ayala, A.; Eckelman, W. C.; Contoreggi, C.;
Rice, K. C. Bioorg. Med. Chem. 2002, 10, 175.
7. Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc., 90 Adelaide
Street West, Toronto, ON M5H 3V9, Canada.
8. Clog P values are 8.43 for 1, 5.86 for 2, 4.80 for 3, 9.71 for
4, 8.89 for 5, 5.98 for 6 and 7.75 for 7.
9. Waterhouse, R. N. Mol. Imaging Biol. 2003, 5, 376.
10. (a) Li, Y.; Hill, G.; Wong, H.; Kelly, N.; Ward, K.;
Pierdomenico, M.; Ren, S.; Gilligan, P.; Grossman, S.;
Trainor, G.; Taub, R.; McElroy, J.; Zazcek, R. J.
Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 2003, 305, 86; (b) Chaki, S.;
Nakazato, A.; Kennis, L.; Nakamura, M.; Mackie, C.;
Sugiura, M.; Vinken, P.; Ashton, D.; Langlois, X.;
Steckler, T. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 2004, 485, 145.
11. He, L.; Gilligan, P. J.; Zaczek, R.; Fitzgerald, L. W.;
McElroy, J.; Shen, H.-S. L.; Saye, J. A.; Kalin, N. H.;
Shelton, S.; Christ, D.; Trainor, G.; Hartig, P. J. Med.
Chem. 2000, 43, 449.
Compounds of interest were selected for measurement
of their antagonistic activities in functional assays
including inhibition of CRF-stimulated cAMP produc-
tion in cells expressing the human CRF1 receptor, and
CRF-stimulated ACTH release in rat anterior pituitary
primary cell cultures (Table 2). All compounds tested
exhibited functional antagonism in both assays. For
example, 28 exhibited an IC50 value of 210 nM in the
cAMP assay, and 18n had IC50 values of 76 nM in the
cAMP assay and 37 nM in the ACTH assay.
The experimentally measured log P value of 18n was
2.78 (octanol–PBS buffer, pH 7.4, HPLC detection),
which approximately matches the calculated value
(3.18). In contrast with 2, which is quite insoluble in
water, the mesylate salt of 18n had very good water
solubility (>10 mg/mL). Compound 18n also had a good
pharmacokinetic profile in rats. After intravenous
injection to Sprague–Dawley rats (10 mg/kg), the vol-
ume of distribution was calculated to be 4.7 L/kg, indi-
cating extensive tissue distribution. The clearance of
43 mL/min kg for this compound was high in this spe-
cies, and this resulted in a relatively short half-life of
1.1 h. At the dose of 10 mg/kg po, the plasma and brain
AUC values were 1182 ng/ml h and 1472 ng/g h, respec-
tively. This resulted in an oral bioavailability of 30.5%
and a brain/plasma ratio of 1.2. These data indicate 18n
had good plasma and brain exposure when adminis-
trated orally. In comparison, the high lipophilic CP-
124,526 (1, Clog P ¼ 8:43) has a long half-life (51 h)
associated with high volume of distribution (105 L/kg) in
rats.16
4. Conclusion
12. Part of this work has been presented in 217th ACS
National Meeting, Anaheim: Wilcoxen, K.; Chen, C.;
Huang, C.; Haddach, M.; Xie, Y.; Wing, L.; Grigoriadis,
D. E.; De Souza E. B.; McCarthy, J. R. 217th ACS
National Meeting, Anaheim, CA, Mar 21–25, 1999; Book
of Abstract: MEDI 002.
13. (a) Novinson, T.; Bhooshan, B.; Okabe, T.; Revankar,
G. R.; Robins, R. K.; Senga, K.; Wilson, H. R.
J. Med. Chem. 1976, 19, 512; (b) Senga, K.; Novinson,
T.; Wilson, H. R.; Robins, R. K. J. Med. Chem. 1981, 24,
610.
SAR studies at the 2-, 3-, 5- and 7-positions of the 3-
phenylpyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine towards more hydro-
philic derivatives revealed that the 5-position was very
sensitive to any replacement of the optimal methyl
group. However, the 2-, 3- and 7-positions were some-
what tolerated to a small hydrophilic group, with a
slight reduction in binding affinity. Several compounds
such as 18n were identified with good binding affinity,
potent functional antagonistic activity and suitable
lipophilicity for a CNS agent. Compound 18n also
possessed good plasma and brain exposure after oral
administration.
14. Grigoriadis, D. E.; Liu, X. J.; Vaughn, J.; Palmer, S. F.;
True, C. D.; Vale, W. W.; Ling, N.; De Souza, E. B. Mol.
Pharmacol. 1996, 50, 679.
15. Battaglia, G.; Webster, E. L.; De Souza, E. B. Synapse
1987, 1, 572.
References and notes
16. Keller, C.; Bruelisauer, A.; Lemaire, M.; Enz, A. Drug
Metab. Dispos. 2002, 30, 173.
1. Steckler, T.; Holsboer, F. Biol. Psych. 1999, 46, 1480.
2. Schulz, D. W.; Mansbach, R. S.; Sprouse, J.; Braselton, J.
P.; Collins, J.; Corman, M.; Dunaiskis, A.; Faraci, S.;
17. For most compounds assayed 2–5 times, the Ki values
were highly reproducible with an average standard devi-
ation of <50%.