B.W. Kim et al.
Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters 31 (2021) 127662
substitution (30c–e), the alkyl chain length played a critical role in
determining their mutagenicity, regardless of the phenyl group.
According to the precedent research, 2-aminofluorene (2-AF) or N-
acetyl-2-aminofluorene (2-AAF) is transformed to N-hydroxy-2-AF or N-
hydroxy-2-AAF via CYP450 monooxygenase oxidation.25 N-Hydroxy-2-
AF or N-hydroxy-2-AAF can be metabolized to electrophilic species,
such as N-SO4-2-AF, N-acetoxyl-2-AF, and N-SO4-2-AAF.25 These elec-
trophiles can form DNA adducts through a reaction with the guanine
base, which we considered as a major mutation pathway in the amino-
fluorene case.
Table 1
Ames test results of 2,7-diaminofluorene derivatives.
Entry
R1
R2
Ames resulta,b
6a
6b
6c
6d
6e
6f
H
H
H
H
H
H
4-(i-Pr)-C6H4
4-(t-Bu)-C6H4
4-F-C6H4
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,-
4-Br-C6H4
4-CF3-C6H4
2-naphthyl
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
+,+,+,+
Compounds 6a–f, equipped with various aromatic ring substitutions
at the C9 position of 2,7-diaminofluorene, were found to be mutagenic
in TA98 strain treated with S9 mix. The fact that these compounds did
not act as mutagens in TA98 without S9 treatment indicated that the
formation of metabolites through DNA adduct can be a cause of muta-
tion. In addition, the negative result for mutation in TA100 strain treated
with S9 mixture indicated that the DNA adduct caused a frame-shift
mutation rather than a base-pair substitution.30 In the case of fluorene
derivatives substituted with dialkyl groups at the C9 position (com-
pounds 12a–d), shorter alkyl chain substituents tended to cause muta-
genicity. From the results of previous25 and current study, we
hypothesized that the mutation of 2,7-diaminofluorene can be pre-
vented by introducing sterically bulky dialkyl groups at the C9 position,
presumably because they prevent the guanine base from approaching
electrophilic metabolites.
8a
8b
+,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
+,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,+
10b
10c
H
H
12a
12b
12c
12d
(CH2)2CH3
(CH2)3CH3
(CH2)3CF3
(CH2)4CF3
(CH2)2CH3
(CH2)3CH3
(CH2)3CF3
(CH2)4CF3
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ
a
Ames results means the test result of TA98 ¡S9, TA98 + S9, TA100 ¡S9, and
TA100 + S9, respectively.
In the case of 2,7-diaminofluorene, introduction of dibutyl-, bis(tri-
fluoromethylpropyl)-, or bis(trifluoromethylbutyl)- chains, as in com-
pounds 12b, 12c, and 12d, respectively, diminished mutation
propensity. However, the carbazole moiety needed to be substituted
with a longer N-alkyl chain than an n-decyl group (as in 16c, 16d and
20) to avoid mutagenicity issues. These results agree well with our hy-
pothesis because carbazole needed to be substituted with a longer chain
monoalkyl group than fluorene with longer-than-propyl dialkyl groups
at the C9 position. Therefore, to block the formation of DNA adduct,
carbazole has to be substituted with a longer alkyl chain than that of
fluorene. In the case of carbazoles substituted with a symmetric sec-
ondary alkyl group (30a and 30b), which mimics the dialkyl group of
fluorene derivatives, compounds substituted with a long branched alkyl
chain, such as (1-butyl)pentyl substitution (mimicking 9,9-dipentyl
groups at the fluorene) (30b), may avoid mutagenic issues, but not
those with a short chain (30a). The importance of the alkyl chain length
in determining the mutagenicity of compounds could be explained by
the (1-phenyl)alkyl substitution cases (30c–e). Regardless of the phenyl
group, mutagenicity pattern was consistent with the length of the alkyl
chain. With methyl (30c) or propyl (30d) substitution, the compounds
were found to be mutagenic, but compounds with longer substituent (e.
g. nonyl group, 30e) were non-mutagenic. Our hypothesis was also
confirmed by the results of N-benzyl derivatives with an alkoxy substi-
tution (23a, 23b, 27a and 27b). In these cases, any changes in the
alkoxy group did not affect the Ames results of the four compounds
because those variations did not affect the bulkiness of the compounds.
In this study, using the Ames test, we investigated the important
factors affecting the mutagenicity of the aniline derivatives 2,7-diamino-
fluorene and 2,7-diaminocarbazole, which are often employed in drug
discovery. Ames test results showed that mutagenicity problems with
derivatives of 2,7-diaminofluorene and 2,7-diaminocarbazole can be
solved by equipping these derivatives with a long alkyl chain at a proper
location. The results imply that 2,7-diaminofluorene and 2,7-diamino-
carbazole can successfully be employed in drug discovery as long as
they are equipped with proper substituents. In addition, several of the
examined compounds showed extremely high antiviral activities,23
proving that fluorene and carbazole can be used as effective core
structures of HCV NS5A inhibitors.
b
+: positive, ꢀ : negative.
Table 2
Ames test results of 2,7-diaminocarbazole derivatives.
Entry
R1
R2
Ames resulta,b
16a
16b
16c
16d
20
H
H
H
H
H
(CH2)2CH3
(CH2)6CH3
(CH2)8CH3
(CH2)10CH3
+,+,+,+
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ
23a
23b
27a
27b
30a
H
H
H
H
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,+
30b
30c
30d
30e
(CH2)3CH3
C6H5
(CH2)3CH3
CH3
ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,+
ꢀ ,+,ꢀ ,ꢀ
ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ ,ꢀ
C6H5
(CH2)2CH3
(CH2)8CH3
C6H5
a
Ames results means the test result of TA98 –S9, TA98 + S9, TA100 –S9, and
TA100 + S9, respectively.
b
+: positive, ꢀ negative.
also showed mutagenic activity in both TA98 and TA100 strains treated
with S9 mix. A compound with a longer substitution such as a 5-nonyl
group (30b) showed no mutagenicity in TA98 and TA100 strains
treated with and without S9 mix. In compounds with (1-phenyl)alkyl
5