Thiol-to-amine cyclization reaction enables screening of large libraries of macrocyclic compounds and the generation of sub-kilodalton ligands.

Macrocyclic compounds are an attractive modality for drug development, but the limited availability of large, structurally diverse macrocyclic libraries hampers the discovery of leads. Here, we describe the discovery of efficient macrocyclization reactions based on thiol-to-amine ligations using bis-electrophiles, their application to synthesize and screen large libraries of macrocyclic compounds, and the identification of potent small macrocyclic ligands. The thiol-to-amine cyclization reactions showed unexpectedly high yields for a wide substrate range, which obviated product purification and enabled the generation and screening of an 8988 macrocycle library with a comparatively small effort. X-ray structure analysis of an identified thrombin inhibitor (K i = 42 ± 5 nM) revealed a snug fit with the target, validating the strategy of screening large libraries with a high skeletal diversity. The approach provides a route for screening large sub-kilodalton macrocyclic libraries and may be applied to many challenging drug targets.

[15]aneN4S: synthesis, thermodynamic studies and potential applications in chelation therapy.

The purpose of this work was to synthesize and characterize the thiatetraaza macrocycle 1-thia-4,7,10,13-tetraazacyclopentadecane ([15]aneN4S). Its acid-base behaviour was studied by potentiometry at 25 °C and ionic strength 0.10 M in KNO3. The protonation sequence of this ligand was investigated by 1H-NMR titration that also allowed the determination of protonation constants in D2O. Binding studies of [15]aneN4S with Mn2+, Fe2+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Cd2+, Hg2+ and Pb2+ metal ions were further performed under the same experimental conditions. The results demonstrated that this compound has a higher selectivity and thermodynamic stability for Hg2+ and Cu2+, followed by Ni2+. The UV-visible-near IR spectroscopies and magnetic moment data for the Co(II) and Ni(II) complexes indicated a tetragonal distorted coordination geometry for both metal centres. The value of magnetic moment and the X-band EPR spectra of the Cu(II) complex are consistent with a distorted square pyramidal geometry.