The novel benzopyran class of selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors-part I: the first clinical candidate.

In this manuscript, we report the discovery of the substituted 2-trifluoromethyl-2H-benzopyran-3-carboxylic acids as a novel series of potent and selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. 5c-(S) (SD-8381) was advanced into clinical studies due to its superior in vivo potency. The high plasma protein binding (>99% bound) of 5c-(S) has resulted in a surprisingly long human half life t(1/2)=360 h.