Tetrahydroisoquinoline amide substituted phenyl pyrazoles as selective Bcl-2 inhibitors.

Anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 protects cells from apoptosis by binding to pro-apoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family thereby playing a role in tumour survival in response to chemo- or radiation therapy. We describe a series of phenyl pyrazoles that have high affinity for Bcl-2 and rationalise the observed SAR by means of an X-ray crystal structure.

Atropisomeric small molecule Bcl-2 ligands: determination of bioactive conformation.

The separation of atropisomeric conformers of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline amide Bcl-2 ligands allowed the identification of the bioactive conformer which was subsequently confirmed by X-ray crystallography.