Search

[Image: see text] Polar molecular surface area provides a valuable metric when optimizing properties as varied as membrane permeability and efflux susceptibility. The EPSA method to measure this quantity has had a substantial impact in medicinal chemistry, providing insight into the conformational and stereoelectronic features that govern the polarity of small molecules, targeted protein degraders, and macrocyclic peptides. Recognizing the value of bioisosteres in replacing permeation-limiting polar groups, we determined the effects of common amide, carboxylic acid, and phenol bioisosteres on EPSA, using matched molecular pairs within the Merck compound collection. Our findings reinforce EPSA’s utility in optimizing permeability, highlight bioisosteres within each class that are particularly effective in lowering EPSA and others, which despite widespread use, offer little to no such benefit. Our method for matched-pair identification is generalizable across large compound collections and, thus, may constitute a flexible platform to study the effects of bioisosterism both in EPSA and other in vitro assays.

The trifluoroethylamine group found in cathepsin K inhibitors like odanacatib can be replaced by a difluoroethylamine group. This change increased the basicity of the nitrogen which positively impacted the log D. This translated into an improved oral bioavailability in pre-clinical species. Difluoroethylamine compounds exhibit a similar potency against cathepsin K and selectivity profile against other cathepsins when compared to trifluoroethylamine analogs.

The discovery of a structurally distinct cannabinoid-1 receptor (CB1R) positron emission tomography tracer is described. Starting from an acyclic amide CB1R inverse agonist (1) as the lead compound, an efficient route to introduce 18F to the molecule was developed. Further optimization focused on reducing the lipophilicity and increasing the CB1R affinity. These efforts led to the identification of [18F]-16 that exhibited good brain uptake and an excellent signal-to-noise ratio in rhesus monkeys.