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Starting from a structure-based drug design, new acetylcholinesterase inhibitors were designed and synthesized as analogues of donepezil. The compounds were composed by an aromatic function and a tertiary amino moiety connected by a suitable spacer. In particular, the benzophenone nucleus and the N,N-benzylmethylamine function were selected. The easily accessible three-step synthesis of these compounds resulted to be significantly less difficult and expensive than that of donepezil. Several compounds possess anti-cholinesterase activity in the order of micro and sub-micromolar. Particularly, compounds 1 and 10 were the most potent inhibitors of the series.

In this work, we further investigated a previously introduced class of cholinesterase inhibitors. The removal of the carbamic function from the lead compound xanthostigmine led to a reversible cholinesterase inhibitors 3. Some new 3-[omega-(benzylmethylamino)alkoxy]xanthen-9-one analogs were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their inhibitory activity against both acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). The length of the alkoxy chain of compound 3 was increased and different substituents were introduced. From the IC(50) values, it clearly appears that the carbamic residue is crucial to obtain highly potent AChE inhibitors. On the other hand, peculiarity of these compounds is the high selectivity toward BuChE with respect to AChE, being compound 12 the most selective one (6000-fold). The development of selective BuChE inhibitors may be of great interest to clarify the physiological role of this enzyme and to provide novel therapeutics for various diseases.

In continuing research that led us to identify a new class of carbamate derivatives acting as potent (Rampa et al. J. Med. Chem. 1998, 41, 3976) and long-lasting (Rampa et al. J. Med. Chem. 2001, 44, 3810) acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, we obtained some analogues able to simultaneously block both the catalytic and the beta-amyloid (Abeta) proaggregatory activities of AChE. The key feature of these derivatives is a 2-arylidenebenzocycloalkanone moiety that provides the ability to bind at the AChE peripheral site responsible for promoting the Abeta aggregation. The new carbamates were tested in vitro for the inhibition of both cholinesterases and also for the ability to prevent the AChE-induced Abeta aggregation. All of the compounds had AChE IC(50) values in the nanomolar range and showed the ability to block the AChE-induced Abeta aggregation, thus supporting the feasibility of this new strategy in the search of compounds for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

In recent years, the investigation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors has gained further interest, because the involvement of the peripheral site of the enzyme in the beta-amyloid (Abeta) aggregation process has been disclosed. We present here, for the first time, a direct evidence of the Abeta antiaggregating action of an AChE inhibitor (AP2238) purposely designed to bind at both the catalytic and the peripheral sites of the human enzyme.

In this work, we further investigated a class of carbamic cholinesterase inhibitors introduced in a previous paper (Rampa et al. J. Med. Chem. 1998, 41, 3976). Some new omega-[N-methyl-N-(3-alkylcarbamoyloxyphenyl)methyl]aminoalkoxyaryl analogues were designed, synthesized, and evaluated for their inhibitory activity against both acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE). The structure of the lead compound (xanthostigmine) was systematically varied with the aim to optimize the different parts of the molecule. Moreover, such a structure-activity relationships (SAR) study was integrated with a kinetic analysis of the mechanism of AChE inhibition for two representative compounds. The structural modifications lead to a compound (12b) showing an IC(50) value for the AChE inhibition of 0.32 +/- 0.09 nM and to a group of BuChE inhibitors also active at the nanomolar level, the most potent of which (15d) was characterized by an IC(50) value of 3.3 +/- 0.4 nM. The kinetic analysis allowed for clarification of the role played by different molecular moieties with regard to the rate of AChE carbamoylation and the duration of inhibition. On the basis of the results presented here, it was concluded that the cholinesterase inhibitors of this class possess promising characteristics in view of a potential development as drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.