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The gold(I)‐dithiocarbamate (dtc) complex [Au(N,N‐diethyl)dtc]2 was identified as the active cytotoxic agent in the combination treatment of sodium aurothiomalate and disulfiram on a panel of cancer cell lines. In addition to demonstrating pronounced differential cytotoxicity to these cell lines, the gold complex showed no cross‐resistance in therapy‐surviving cancer cells. In the course of a medicinal chemistry campaign on this class of poorly soluble gold(I)‐dtc complexes, >35 derivatives were synthesized and X‐ray crystallography was used to examine structural aspects of the dtc moiety. A group of hydroxy‐substituted complexes has an improved solubility profile, and it was found that these complexes form 2 : 1 host–guest inclusion complexes with β‐cyclodextrin (CD), exhibiting a rarely observed “tail‐to‐tail” arrangement of the CD cones. Formulation of a hydroxy‐substituted gold(I)‐dtc complex with excess sulfobutylether‐β‐CD prevents the induction of mitochondrial reactive oxygen species, which is a major burden in the development of metallodrugs., Inclusion complex of a complex: The two drugs disulfiram and aurothiomalate react to produce a gold(I)‐dithiocarbamate complex, which selectively kills cancer cells. Hydroxy‐substituted derivatives of this complex form inclusion complexes with β‐cyclodextrin in a rare “tail‐to‐tail” arrangement. Formulation of one gold complex with a β‐cyclodextrin derivative prevents formation of reactive oxygen species in mitochondria.

The cytosolic class IIb histone deacetylase HDAC10 is an emerging target for drug design. As an inducer of autophagy, its selective inhibition suppresses the autophagic response that otherwise attenuates the efficacy of cytotoxic cancer chemotherapy drugs. HDAC10 is a zinc-dependent polyamine deacetylase exhibiting maximal catalytic activity against N(8)-acetylspermidine. As revealed in the structure of Danio rerio (zebrafish) HDAC10, two conserved structural motifs direct this narrow substrate specificity: a 3(10) helix containing the P(E,A)CE motif that sterically constricts the active site, and an electrostatic “gatekeeper”, E274, that confers selectivity for cationic polyamine substrates. To accelerate drug design efforts targeting human HDAC10, we now report the preparation of “humanized” zebrafish HDAC10 in which two amino acid substitutions, A24E and D94A, yield an active site contour more similar to that of human HDAC10. X-ray crystal structures of this HDAC10 variant complexed with Tubastatin A and indole analogues bearing pendant tertiary amines reveal that inhibitors capable of hydrogen bonding with gatekeeper E274 exhibit high affinity and selectivity for HDAC10 over HDAC6 (the other class IIb isozyme). Moreover, these structures reveal that the P(E,A)CE motif helix can shift by up to 2 Å to accommodate the binding of bulky inhibitors. Thus, slender polyamine-like inhibitor structures are not exclusively required for selective, high affinity binding to HDAC10. Indeed, the flexibility of the P(E,A)CE motif helix could conceivably enable the binding of certain protein substrates.

We report the synthesis and evaluation of a class of selective multitarget agents for the inhibition of HDAC6, HDAC8, and HDAC10. The concept for this study grew out of a structural analysis of the two selective inhibitors Tubastatin A (HDAC6/10) and PCI-34051 (HDAC8), which we recognized share the same N-benzylindole core. Hybridization of the two inhibitor structures resulted in dihydroxamic acids with benzyl-indole and -indazole core motifs. These substances exhibit potent activity against HDAC6, HDAC8, and HDAC10, while retaining selectivity over HDAC1, HDAC2, and HDAC3. The best substance inhibited the viability of the SK-N-BE(2)C neuroblastoma cell line with an IC50 value similar to a combination treatment with Tubastatin A and PCI-34051. This compound class establishes a proof of concept for such hybrid molecules and could serve as a starting point for the further development of enhanced HDAC6/8/10 inhibitors.

Many active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) in the pharmaceutical pipeline require bioavailability enhancing formulations due to very low aqueous solubility. Although spray dried dispersions (SDDs) have demonstrated broad utility in enhancing the bioavailability of such APIs by trapping them in a high-energy amorphous form, many new chemical entities (NCEs) are poorly soluble not just in water, but in preferred organic spray drying solvents, e.g., methanol (MeOH) and acetone. Spraying poorly solvent soluble APIs from dilute solutions leads to low process throughput and small particles that challenge downstream processing. For APIs with basic pKa values, spray solvent solubility can be dramatically increased by using an acid to ionize the API. Specifically, we show that acetic acid can increase API solubility in MeOH:H2O by 10-fold for a weakly basic drug, gefitinib (GEF, pKa 7.2), by ionizing GEF to form the transient acetate salt. The acetic acid is removed during drying, resulting in a SDD of the original GEF free base having performance similar to SDDs sprayed from solvents without acetic acid. The increase in solvent solubility enables large scale manufacturing for these challenging APIs by significantly increasing the throughput and reducing the amount of solvent required.

The discovery of isozyme-selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors is critical for understanding the biological functions of individual HDACs and for validating HDACs as drug targets. The isozyme HDAC10 contributes to chemotherapy resistance and has recently been described to be a polyamine deacetylase, but no studies toward selective HDAC10 inhibitors have been published. Using two complementary assays, we found Tubastatin A, an HDAC6 inhibitor, to potently bind HDAC10. We synthesized Tubastatin A derivatives and found that a basic amine in the cap group was required for strong HDAC10 binding. HDAC10 inhibitors mimicked knockdown by causing dose-dependent accumulation of acidic vesicles in a neuroblastoma cell line. Furthermore, docking into human HDAC10 homology models indicated that a hydrogen bond between a cap group nitrogen and the gatekeeper residue Glu272 was responsible for potent HDAC10 binding. Taken together, our data provide an optimal platform for the development of HDAC10-selective inhibitors, as exemplified with the Tubastatin A scaffold.

The discovery of isozyme-selective histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors is critical for understanding the biological functions of individual HDACs and for validating HDACs as clinical drug targets. The isozyme HDAC10 contributes to chemotherapy resistance via inhibition of autophagic flux and has recently been described to be a polyamine deacetylase, but no studies directed toward selective HDAC10 inhibitors have been published. Herein, we disclose that the use of two complementary ligand-displacement assays has revealed unexpectedly potent HDAC10 binding of tubastatin A, which has been previously described as a highly selective HDAC6 inhibitor. We synthesized a targeted selection of tubastatin A derivatives and found that a basic amine in the cap group was required for strong HDAC10, but not HDAC6, binding. Only potent HDAC10 binders mimicked HDAC10 knockdown by causing dose-dependent accumulation of acidic vesicles in the BE(2)-C neuroblastoma cell line. Docking of inhibitors into human HDAC10 homology models indicated that a hydrogen-bond between a basic cap group nitrogen and the HDAC10 gatekeeper residue Glu272 was responsible for potent HDAC10 binding. Taken together, the presented assays and homology models provide an optimal platform for the development of HDAC10-selective inhibitors, as exemplified with the tubastatin A scaffold.

Bispidines (3,7-diazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonanes) as very rigid and highly preorganized ligands find broad application in the field of coordination chemistry, and the redox potentials of their transition-metal complexes are of importance in oxidation reactions by high-valent iron complexes, aziridination catalyzed by copper complexes, and imaging by (64)Cu positron emission tomography tracers. Here, we show that the redox potentials and stability constants of the copper(II) complexes of 15 tetradentate bispidines can be varied by substitution of the pyridine rings (variation of the redox potential over ca. 450 mV and of the complex stability over approximately 10 log units). It is also shown that these variations are predictable by the pKa values of the pyridine groups as well as by the Hammett parameters of the substituents, and the density functional theory based energy decomposition analysis also allows one to accurately predict the redox potentials and concomitant complex stability. It is shown that the main contribution emerges from the electrostatic interaction energy, and the partial charges of the pyridine donor groups therefore also correlate with the redox potentials.

The efficient synthesis of a new hexadentate pyrazole-based bispidine-ligand and its first-row transition metal complexes (FeII, CoII, NiII, CuII and ZnII) is reported. There are interesting structural differences between the present and earlier hexadentate bispidine ligands (tetragonally versus trigonally distorted octahedral geometries). The structural analysis of the metal-free ligand and the five complexes shows that the structure enforced by the rigid pyrazole-based bispidine is best described as distorted trigonal prismatic, and this also emerges from the spectroscopic analysis.

The Cu(II) complex of H(4)TETP (H(4)TETP = 1,4,8,11-tetraazatetradecane-1,4,8,11-tetrapropionic acid) is five-coordinate with a distorted square-pyramidal structure (τ = 0.45; i.e. the geometry is nearly half-way between square-pyramidal and trigonal-bipyramidal) and a relatively long Cu-N and a short Cu-O bond; the comparison between powder and solution electronic spectroscopy, the frozen solution EPR spectrum and ligand-field-based calculations (angular overlap model, AOM) indicate that the solution and solid state structures are very similar, i.e. the complex has a relatively low "in-plane" and a significant axial ligand field with a d(x(2)-y(2)) ground state. The ligand-enforced structure is therefore shown to lead to a partially quenched Jahn-Teller distortion and to a relatively low complex stability, lower than with the corresponding acetate-derived ligand H(4)TETA. This is confirmed by potentiometric titration and by the biodistribution with (64)Cu-labeled ligands which show that the uptake in the liver is significantly increased with the H(4)TETP-based system.

Lithium indenide (Li-Ind) or cyclopentadienide (Li-Cp) derivatives react as nucleophiles with 8-(methylsulfinyl)-1,5-naphthyridine (Naph), leading to donor-functionalized ligands IndNaph or CpNaph,...

Methionine aminopeptidases (MetAPs) are responsible for the co-translational cleavage of initiator methionines from nascent proteins. The MetAP2 subtype is up-regulated in many cancers, and selective inhibition of MetAP2 suppresses both vascularization and growth of tumors in animal models. The natural product fumagillin is a selective and potent irreversible inhibitor of MetAP2, and semi-synthetic derivatives of fumagillin have shown promise in clinical studies for the treatment of cancer, and, more recently, for obesity. Further development of fumagillin derivatives has been complicated, however, by their generally poor pharmacokinetics. In an attempt to overcome these limitations, we developed an easily diversifiable synthesis of a novel class of MetAP2 inhibitors that were designed to mimic fumagillin's molecular scaffold but have improved pharmacological profiles. These substances were found to be potent and selective inhibitors of MetAP2, as demonstrated in biochemical enzymatic assays against three MetAP isoforms. Inhibitors with the same relative and absolute stereoconfiguration as fumagillin displayed significantly higher activity than their diastereomeric and enantiomeric isomers. X-ray crystallographic analysis revealed that the inhibitors covalently modify His231 in the MetAP2 active site via ring-opening of a spiroepoxide. Biochemically active substances inhibited the growth of endothelial cells and a MetAP2-sensitive cancer cell line, while closely related inactive isomers had little effect on the proliferation of either cell type. These effects correlated with altered N-terminal processing of the protein 14-3-3-γ. Finally, selected substances were found to have improved stabilities in mouse plasma and microsomes relative to the clinically-investigated fumagillin derivative beloranib.

The substitution of tetradentate bispidine ligands with rhodamine and cyanine dye molecules, coupled to an amine donor, forming an amide as potential fifth donor, is described. Bispidines are known to lead to very stable Cu II complexes, and the coordination to Cu II was expected to efficiently quench the fluorescence of dye molecules. However, at physiological pH the amide is not coordinated, as shown by titration experiments and crystallographic structural data of three possible isomers of these complexes. This may be due to the specific cavity shape of bispidines and the Jahn–Teller lability of the Cu II center. While Cu II coordination in aqueous solution leads to efficient fluorescence quenching, experiments show that the complex stabilities are not large enough for Cu II sensing in biological media, and possibilities are discussed, how this may be achieved by optimized bispidine–dye conjugates.

Pentadentate bispidine ligands (3,7-diazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonanes) are optimized for maximum complex stability and facile functionalization with respect to their coupling to biological vector molecules and/or fluorescence markers for PET (positron emission tomography) and multimodal imaging (i.e., PET and optical imaging). The pentadentate ligand with two tertiary amine donors, two p-methoxy substituted pyridines, and one unsubsituted pyridine group is shown to best fulfill important conditions for PET applications, i.e., fast complexation with CuII and high in vivo stability, and this was predicted from the solution chemistry, in particular the CuII/I redox potentials. Also, solvent partition experiments to model the lipophilicity of the CuII complexes indicate that the bis p-methoxy substituted ligand leads to cationic complexes with an appreciable lipophilicity. This is supported by the biodistribution experiments that show that the complex with the p-methoxy substituted ligand is excreted very quickly and primarily via the renal route and therefore is ideally suited for the development of PET tracers with ligands of this type coupled to biomolecules.

Depending on the choice of solvent either syn- or anti-diastereomers can be obtained as protected 1,3-diamine structures.

Ligands based on 3,7-diazabicyclo[3.3.1]nonane (bispidine) form very stable coordination compounds, in particular with first row transition metal ions. Considering multiple functionalization, bispidines are promising candidates for pharmaceutical targeting and multimodal imaging. Due to the formation of thermodynamically stable and kinetically inert CuII complexes, penta- and hexadentate bispidine ligands are well suited for 64Cu positron emission tomography imaging and radiotherapy (64Cu/67Cu). The bispidine scaffold paves the way for introducing further functionalities, such as targeting units and fluorescence labels, which broadens the scope regarding pharmaceutical targeting and dual labelling (PET and optical imaging). Several bispidine ligands have been developed in order to improve the radiopharmaceutical behavior as well as possibilities for further beneficial functionalization. Variable denticity (tetra-, penta- and hexadentate) with different donor groups, such as amino, amido, pyridine and/or methoxypyridine functionalities allows for tuning properties such as complexation and lipophilicity. These ligands and the important properties of their CuII complexes, e.g., stabilities, ligand exchange kinetics, serum stability, partition coefficients ([64Cu]Cu-bispidine: n-octanol/water) and biodistribution studies will be reported.

An efficient protocol for the stereoselective synthesis of 1,3-syn and -anti-tetrahydropyrimidinones (syn- and anti-11a) is reported. The modular procedure is based on a stereodivergent cyclization of readily available urea-type substrates (10a) by intramolecular allylic substitution. The cyclization proceeds with excellent yield (up to 99%) and selectivity (up to dr > 20:1), purely based on substrate control. The product pyrimidines can be readily transformed into the corresponding free syn- and anti-amines.