trans-2,3-dihydroxy-6a,7,8,12b-tetrahydro-6H-chromeno[3,4-c]isoquinoline: synthesis, resolution, and preliminary pharmacological characterization of a new dopamine D1 receptor full agonist.

We report the synthesis of trans-2,3-dihydroxy-6a,7,8,12b-tetrahydro-6H-chromeno[3,4-c]isoquinoline hydrochloride 6 and the resolution of its enantiomers. This new compound is an oxygen bioisostere of the potent dopamine D1-selective full agonist dihydrexidine. The initial synthetic approach involved, as a key step, a Suzuki coupling between a chromene triflate and a boronate ester, followed by isoquinoline formation and reduction of the resulting isoquinoline. Subsequently, a more efficient route was developed that involved conjugate addition of an aryl Grignard reagent to a 2-nitrochromene. The title compound possessed high affinity (Ki=20-30 nM) for porcine D1-like receptors in native striatal tissue and full intrinsic activity at cloned human dopamine D1 receptors but had much lower affinity at dopamine D2-like receptors (Ki=3000 nM). The binding and functional properties of this compound illustrate again the utility of constructing dopamine D1 agonist ligands around the beta-phenyldopamine pharmacophore template.

C7ß-methyl analogues of the orvinols: the discovery of kappa opioid antagonists with nociceptin/orphanin FQ peptide (NOP) receptor partial agonism and low, or zero, efficacy at mu opioid receptors.

Buprenorphine is a successful analgesic and treatment for opioid abuse, with both activities relying on its partial agonist activity at mu opioid receptors. However, there is substantial interest in its activities at the kappa opioid and nociceptin/orphanin FQ peptide receptors. This has led to an interest in developing compounds with a buprenorphine-like pharmacological profile but with lower efficacy at mu opioid receptors. The present article describes aryl ring analogues of buprenorphine in which the standard C20-methyl group has been moved to the C7ß position, resulting in ligands with the desired profile. In particular, moving the methyl group has resulted in far more robust kappa opioid antagonist activity than seen in the standard orvinol series. Of the compounds synthesized, a number, including 15a, have a profile of interest for the development of drug abuse relapse prevention therapies or antidepressants and others (e.g., 8c), as analgesics with a reduced side-effect profile.

Effect of the 3- and 4-methyl groups on the opioid receptor properties of N-substituted trans-3,4-dimethyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperidines.

N-substituted trans-3,4-dimethyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperidines (2a,b) are opioid receptor antagonists where the antagonist properties are not due to the type of N-substituent. In order to gain a better understanding of the contribution that the 3- and 4-methyl groups make to the pure antagonist properties of 2a,b, we synthesized analogues of 2a,b that lacked the 4-methyl (5a,b), 3-methyl (6a,b), and both the 3- and 4-methyl group (7a,b) and compared their opioid receptor properties. We found that (1) all N-methyl and N-phenylpropyl substituted compounds were nonselective opioid antagonists (2) all N-phenylpropyl analogues were more potent than their N-methyl counterparts, and (3) compounds 2a,b which have both a 3- and 4-methyl substituent, were more potent antagonists than analogues 5a,b, 6a,b, and 7a,b. We also found that the removal of 3-methyl substituent of N-methyl and N-phenylpropyl 3-methyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperazines (8a,b) gives (4a,b), which are opioid antagonists.

Extensive rigid analogue design maps the binding conformation of potent N-benzylphenethylamine 5-HT2A serotonin receptor agonist ligands.

Based on the structure of the superpotent 5-HT(2A) agonist 2-(4-bromo-2,5-dimethoxyphenyl)-N-[(2-methoxyphenyl)methyl]ethanamine, which consists of a ring-substituted phenethylamine skeleton modified with an N-benzyl group, we designed and synthesized a small library of constrained analogues to identify the optimal arrangement of the pharmacophoric elements of the ligand. Structures consisted of diversely substituted tetrahydroisoquinolines, piperidines, and one benzazepine. Based on the structure of (S,S)-9b, which showed the highest affinity of the series, we propose an optimal binding conformation. (S,S)-9b also displayed 124-fold selectivity for the 5-HT(2A) over the 5-HT(2C) receptor, making it the most selective 5-HT(2A) receptor agonist ligand currently known.

Discovery of N-{4-[(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-methylpiperazin-1-yl]methyl-2-methylpropyl}-4-phenoxybenzamide analogues as selective kappa opioid receptor antagonists.

There is continuing interest in the discovery and development of new κ opioid receptor antagonists. We recently reported that N-substituted 3-methyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperazines were a new class of opioid receptor antagonists. In this study, we report the syntheses of two piperazine JDTic-like analogues. Evaluation of the two compounds in an in vitro [(35)S]GTPγS binding assay showed that neither compound showed the high potency and κ opioid receptor selectivity of JDTic. A library of compounds using the core scaffold 21 was synthesized and tested for their ability to inhibit [(35)S]GTPγS binding stimulated by the selective κ opioid agonist U69,593. These studies led to N-[(1S)-1-{[(3S)-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3-methylpiperazin-1-yl]methyl}-2-methylpropyl]-4-phenoxybenzamide (11a), a compound that showed good κ opioid receptor antagonist properties. An SAR study based on 11a provided 28 novel analogues. Evaluation of these 28 compounds in the [(35)S]GTPγS binding assay showed that several of the analogues were potent and selective κ opioid receptor antagonists.

Analogues of doxanthrine reveal differences between the dopamine D1 receptor binding properties of chromanoisoquinolines and hexahydrobenzo[a]phenanthridines.

Efforts to develop selective agonists for dopamine D(1)-like receptors led to the discovery of dihydrexidine and doxanthrine, two bioisosteric ß-phenyldopamine-type full agonist ligands that display selectivity and potency at D(1)-like receptors. We report herein an improved methodology for the synthesis of substituted chromanoisoquinolines (doxanthrine derivatives) and the evaluation of several new compounds for their ability to bind to D(1)- and D(2)-like receptors. Identical pendant phenyl ring substitutions on the dihydrexidine and doxanthrine templates surprisingly led to different effects on D(1)-like receptor binding, suggesting important differences between the interactions of these ligands with the D(1) receptor. We propose, based on the biological results and molecular modeling studies, that slight conformational differences between the tetralin and chroman-based compounds lead to a shift in the location of the pendant ring substituents within the receptor.

Probing the steric space at the floor of the D1 dopamine receptor orthosteric binding domain: 7α-, 7ß-, 8α-, and 8ß-methyl substituted dihydrexidine analogues.

To probe the space at the floor of the orthosteric ligand binding site in the dopamine D(1) receptor, four methylated analogues of dihydrexidine (DHX) were synthesized with substitutions at the 7 and 8 positions. The 8α-axial, 8ß-equatorial, and 7α-equatorial were synthesized by photochemical cyclization of appropriately substituted N-benzoyl enamines, and the 7ß-axial analogue was prepared by an intramolecular Henry reaction. All of the methylated analogues displayed losses in affinity when compared to DHX (20 nM): 8ß-Me(ax)-DHX (270 nM), 8α-Me(eq)-DHX (920 nM), 7ß-Me(eq)-DHX (6540 nM), and 7α-Me(ax)-DHX (>10000 nM). Molecular modeling studies suggest that although the disruption of an aromatic interaction between Phe203(5.47) and Phe288(6.51) is the cause for the 14-fold loss in affinity associated with 8ß-axial substitution, unfavorable steric interactions with Ser107(3.36) result in the more dramatic decreases in binding affinity suffered by the rest of the analogues.

1-Substituted 4-(3-Hydroxyphenyl)piperazines Are Pure Opioid Receptor Antagonists.

This report describes the discovery that 1-substituted 4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperazines are pure opioid receptor antagonists. Compounds in this new series include N-phenylpropyl (3S)-3-methyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperazine and (3R)-3-methyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperazine, both of which diaplay low nanomolar potencies at µ, δ, and κ receptors and pure antagonist properties in a [(35)S]GTPγS assay.

Synthesis and in vitro opioid receptor functional antagonism of methyl-substituted analogues of (3R)-7-hydroxy-N-[(1S)-1-{[(3R,4R)-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3,4-dimethyl-1-piperidinyl]methyl}-2-methylpropyl]-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-3-isoquinolinecarboxamide (JDTic).

In previous structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies, (3R)-7-hydroxy-N-[(1S)-1-{[(3R,4R)-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3,4-dimethyl-1-piperidinyl]methyl}-2-methylpropyl]-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-3-isoquinolinecarboxamide (JDTic, 3) was identified as the first potent and selective kappa-opioid receptor antagonist from the trans-3,4-dimethyl-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)piperidine class of opioid antagonists. In the present study, we report the synthesis of analogues 8a-p of 3 and present their in vitro opioid receptor functional antagonism using a [(35)S]GTPgammaS binding assay. Compounds 8a-p are analogues of 3 containing one, two, or three methyl groups connected to the JDTic structure at five different positions. All the analogues with one and two added methyl groups with the exception of 8k had subnanomolar K(e) values at the kappa receptor. The three most potent analogues were the monomethylated (3R)-7-hydroxy-N-[(1S,2S)-1-{[(3R,4R)-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3,4-dimethylpiperidine-1-yl]methyl}-2-methylbutyl]-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxamide (8a) and (3R)-7-hydroxy-N-[(1S)-1-{[(3R,4R)-4-(3-hydroxyphenyl)-3,4-dimethylpiperidin-1-yl]methyl}-(2-methylpropyl)]-3-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxamide (8e) with K(e) values of 0.03 nM at the kappa receptor and (3R)-7-hydroxy-N-[(1S)-1-{[(3R,4R)-4-(3-methoxyphenyl)-3,4-dimethylpiperidin-1-yl]methyl}-2-methylpropyl]-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline-3-carboxamide (8d) with K(e) = 0.037 nM at the kappa receptor. All three compounds were selective for the kappa receptor relative to the micro and delta receptors. Overall, the results from this study highlight those areas that are tolerant to substitution on 3.