Koichiro Morihira

Design and synthesis of 6-fluoro-2-naphthyl derivatives as novel CCR3 antagonists with reduced CYP2D6 inhibition.

In our previous study on discovering novel types of CCR3 antagonists, we found a fluoronaphthalene derivative (1) that exhibited potent CCR3 inhibitory activity with an IC(50) value of 20 nM. However, compound 1 also inhibited human cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) with an IC(50) value of 400 nM. In order to reduce its CYP2D6 inhibitory activity, we performed further systematic structural modifications on 1. In particular, we focused on reducing the number of lipophilic moieties in the biphenyl part of 1, using ClogD(7.4) values as the reference index of lipophilicity. This research led to the identification of N-{(3-exo)-8-[(6-fluoro-2-naphthyl)methyl]-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]oct-3-yl}-3-(piperidin-1-ylcarbonyl)isonicotinamide 1-oxide (30) which showed comparable CCR3 inhibitory activity (IC(50)=23 nM) with much reduced CYP2D6 inhibitory activity (IC(50)=29,000 nM) compared with 1.

Pyrrolidinyl phenylurea derivatives as novel CCR3 antagonists.

Optimization starting with our lead compound 1 (IC(50)=4.9 nM) led to the identification of pyrrolidinyl phenylurea derivatives. Further modification toward improvement of the bioavailability provided (R)-1-(1-((6-fluoronaphthalen-2-yl)methyl)pyrrolidin-3-yl)-3-(2-(2-hydroxyethoxy)phenyl)urea 32 (IC(50)=1.7 nM), a potent and orally active CCR3 antagonist.

Synthesis, biological evaluation, and metabolic stability of acrylamide derivatives as novel CCR3 antagonists.

Our laboratory has identified several acrylamide derivatives with potent CCR3 inhibitory activity. In the present study, we evaluated the in vitro metabolic stability (CL(int); mL/min/kg) of these compounds in human liver microsomes (HLMs), and assessed the relationship between their structures and CL(int) values. Among the compounds identified, N-{(3R)-1-[(6-fluoro-2-naphthyl)methyl]pyrrolidin-3-yl}-2-[1-(2-hydroxybenzoyl)piperidin-4-ylidene]acetamide (30j) was found to be a potent inhibitor (IC(50)=8.4nM) with a high metabolic stability against HLMs.

Discovery and structure-activity relationships of urea derivatives as potent and novel CCR3 antagonists.

The synthesis and structure-activity relationships of ureas as CCR3 antagonists are described. Optimization starting with lead compound 2 (IC(50)=190 nM) derived from initial screening hit compound 1 (IC(50)=600 nM) led to the identification of (S)-N-((1R,3S,5S)-8-((6-fluoronaphthalen-2-yl)methyl)-8-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl)-N-(2-nitrophenyl)pyrrolidine-1,2-dicarboxamide 27 (IC(50)=4.9 nM) as a potent CCR3 antagonist.