European Medicinal Chemistry Leaders in Industry (EMCL) - On the Status and Future of Medicinal Chemistry Research in Europe.

The status of industrial Medicinal Chemistry was discussed with European Medicinal Chemistry Leaders from large to mid-sized pharma and CRO companies as well as biotechs. The chemical modality space has expanded recently from small molecules to address new challenging targets. Besides the classical SAR/SPR optimization of drug molecules also their 'greenness' has increasing importance. The entire pharma discovery ecosystem has developed significantly. Beyond pharma and academia new key players such as Biotech and integrated CROs as well as Digital companies have appeared and are now to a large extend fueled by VC money. Digitalization is happening everywhere but surprisingly did not change speed and success rates of projects so far. Future Medicinal Chemists will still have to be excellent synthetic chemists but in addition they must be knowledgeable in new computational areas such as data sciences. Their ability to collaborate and to work in teams is key.

Bivalent Ligands for Protein Degradation in Drug Discovery.

Targeting the "undruggable" proteome remains one of the big challenges in drug discovery. Recent innovations in the field of targeted protein degradation and manipulation of the ubiquitin-proteasome system open up new therapeutic approaches for disorders that cannot be targeted with conventional inhibitor paradigms. Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) are bivalent ligands in which a compound that binds to the protein target of interest is connected to a second molecule that binds an E3 ligase via a linker. The E3 protein is usually either Cereblon or Von Hippel-Lindau. Several examples of selective PROTAC molecules with potent effect in cells and in vivo models have been reported. The degradation of specific proteins via these bivalent molecules is already allowing for the study of biochemical pathways and cell biology with more specificity than was possible with inhibitor compounds. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of recent developments in the field of small molecule mediated protein degradation, including transcription factors, kinases and nuclear receptors. We discuss the potential benefits of protein degradation over inhibition as well as the challenges that need to be overcome.

The 52nd International Conference on Medicinal Chemistry (RICT 2016) of the French Medicinal Chemistry Society (SCT) Held in Caen (Normandy).

Outstanding Medchem in France: Guest editors Janos Sapi, Luc Van Hjfte, and Patrick Dallemagne look back at the 52nd International Conference on Medicinal Chemistry (RICT 2016) held in Caen, France. They discuss the history of the French Medicinal Chemistry Society (Société de Chimie Thérapeutique, SCT) and provide highlights of last year's events, including some key presentations now collected in this Special Issue.

Intramolecular sila-Matteson rearrangement: a general access to silylated heterocycles.

A series of new silylated heterocycles has been efficiently prepared using an intramolecular silicon version of the Matteson rearrangement, providing two isomers of binuclear heterocycles. This method applies to a large variety of substrates, a direct relationship between the Hammett constants of the aromatic substituents and the isomer ratio being observed. Complementary experiments suggest that a common pentaorganosilicate species is involved.

Mechanism selection for regiocontrol in base-assisted, palladium-catalysed direct C-H coupling with halides: first approach for oxazole- and thiazole-4-carboxylates.

Both base-assisted non-concerted metallation-deprotonation (nCMD) and concerted metallation-deprotonation (CMD) have been identified as two potent operating mechanisms in palladium-catalysed direct C-H coupling of oxazole and thiazole-4-carboxylate esters with halides through base- and solvent-effect experiments. Novel C2- and C5-selective CMD direct arylation procedures in oxazole- and thiazole-4-carboxylate series were then designed by controlling the balance between electronic and steric factors. Notably, charge interactions between the palladium catalyst and substrate were identified as a parameter for controlling selectivity and reducing the impact of steric factors in the CMD reaction.

Identification of a series of substituted 2-piperazinyl-5-pyrimidylhydroxamic acids as potent histone deacetylase inhibitors.

Pursuing our efforts in designing 5-pyrimidylhydroxamic acid anti-cancer agents, we have identified a new series of potent histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors. These compounds exhibit enzymatic HDAC inhibiting properties with IC(50) values in the nanomolar range and inhibit tumor cell proliferation at similar levels. Good solubility, moderate bioavailability, and promising in vivo activity in xenograft model made this series of compounds interesting starting points to design new potent HDAC inhibitors.

Diastereodivergent addition of allenylzincs to aryl glyoxylates.

A diastereodivergent addition of allenylzincs to aryl glyoxylates was observed depending on the method used for the preparation of the allenylzinc reagent. The allenylzincs were prepared from propargylic benzoates in the presence of a palladium catalyst or by metalation of alkynes.

General and versatile entry to 4,5-fused polycyclic imidazolones systems. Use of the tandem transposition/pi-cyclization of N-acyliminium species.

A simple and efficient methodology for the synthesis of 4,5-fused imidazolidin-2-ones from bicyclic and tricyclic ketones in a four-step sequence was described, by successive spirohydantoin Bucherer-Berg formation, mono- and dialkylation of the nitrogen atom of the hydantoin ring, regioselective reduction of one carbonyl function, and cationic cyclization associated with ring expansion. The key step of this sequential reaction was based on a tandem transposition/intramolecular amidoalkylation of cyclic spiro-N-acyliminium species. The process seems to be easy, general, regiospecific, resulted in the formation of polyheterocyclic systems containing an imidazolidin-2-one nucleus in good to excellent yields (67-99%), and is compatible with a large-scale production (up to 3 g of product 14, for example). Also, this method allows the preparation of the novel heterocycles 14 and 15 that have pharmaceutically interesting profiles, which are not accessible through short current synthetic methods. Finally, products 15 bear a secondary amide function crucial for further transformations, including the introduction of various pharmacophore groups either at the C or the N atoms of the imidazole ring.

Acid-catalysed formation of tricyclic N,S-acetals in imidazolinone series based on the use of the unprecedented N-acyliminium ion cascade reaction involving transposition, heterocyclisation and pi-cyclisation.

4-Hydroxy-5,5-dimethylimidazolines tethered at N-1 to an aryl sulfide undergo an unprecedented acid-catalysed domino reaction, involving double methyl transposition, heterocyclisation, isomerisation of thiazetidinium ion and, finally, pi-cyclisation. In this way a one-pot synthesis of original tricyclic N,S-acetals was developed. The same triheterocyclic products can be prepared also starting from the corresponding 5-hydroxy isomers (in this case the cascade of reactions does not involve methyl transposition).

Discovery of pyrimidyl-5-hydroxamic acids as new potent histone deacetylase inhibitors.

A series of pyrimidyl-5-hydroxamic acids was prepared for evaluation as inhibitors of histone deacetylase (HDAC). Amino-2-pyrimidinyl can be used as a linker to provide HDAC inhibitors of good enzymatic potency.