Patrick Wagner

Fully regiocontrolled polyarylation of pyridine.

Starting from commercially available 2-chloro-3-hydroxypyridine, a new route leading to the first protypical pentaarylpyridine bearing five different substituents is reported. This strategy involves a set of five sequential but fully regiocontrolled Suzuki-Miyaura reactions and highlights the 2-OBn pyridine protecting group as a key intermediate. The 2-OBn group played a double role: (i) it allowed additional bromination at position 5 and (ii) it could afford the reactive OTf species for the last C-arylation step at the less hindered 2 position of the tetraarylpyridine. The photophysical properties of the novel compounds are also described. The synthesized pentaarylpyridine derivative exhibit a large Stokes shift, strong solvatochromism, and quantum yield values up to 0.47; thus, they constitute promising building blocks for the design of environment-sensitive probes.

t-BuXPhos: a highly efficient ligand for Buchwald–Hartwig coupling in water

An efficient and versatile ‘green’ catalytic system for the Buchwald–Hartwig cross-coupling reaction in water is reported. In an aqueous micellar medium, the combination of t-BuXPhos with [(cinnamyl)PdCl]2 showed excellent performance for coupling arylbromides or chlorides with a large set of amines, amides, ureas and carbamates. The method is functional-group tolerant, proceeds smoothly (30 to 50 °C) and provides rapid access to the target compounds in good to excellent isolated yields. When applied to the synthesis of a known NaV1.8 modulator, this method led to a significant improvement of the E-factor in comparison with classical organic synthesis.

Development of a peptidomimetic antagonist of neuropeptide FF receptors for the prevention of opioid-induced hyperalgesia.

Through the development of a new class of unnatural ornithine derivatives as bioisosteres of arginine, we have designed an orally active peptidomimetic antagonist of neuropeptide FF receptors (NPFFR). Systemic low-dose administration of this compound to rats blocked opioid-induced hyperalgesia, without any apparent side-effects. Interestingly, we also observed that this compound potentiated opioid-induced analgesia. This unnatural ornithine derivative provides a novel therapeutic approach for both improving analgesia and reducing hyperalgesia induced by opioids in patients being treated for chronic pain.

d-Glucose: An Efficient Reducing Agent for a Copper(II)-Mediated Arylation of Primary Amines in Water

A copper-catalyzed Ullmann-type amination with primary amines in water with a combination of copper(II) triflate [Cu(OTf)2 ], dipivaloylmethane, and d-glucose is reported. The mild conditions and the use of an inexpensive catalyst as well as a renewable feedstock (d-glucose and the surfactant TPGS-750-M, which is derived from vitamin E) make this protocol a safe and convenient strategy for efficient C-N bond formation. This easy-to-handle procedure is extremely competitive compared to palladium-based reactions and may be used to synthesize N-containing molecules, such as drugs or organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs).

Trisubstitution of pyridine through sequential and regioselective palladium cross-coupling reactions affording analogs of known GPR54 antagonists

Because of their large spectrum of applications, poly-functionalized pyridines remain an attractive challenge in modern organic chemistry. We describe the poly-functionalization of halopyridines through a series of sequential and regioselective palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reactions (Suzuki–Miyaura, Sonogashira and Buchwald–Hartwig reactions). This strategy was applied to the synthesis of several analogs of single non-peptidic known GPR54 antagonists.

Synthesis of Benzo[c]silole Derivatives Bearing a Tetrasubstituted Exocyclic C=C Double Bond by Palladium-Catalyzed Domino Reactions

The synthesis of diversely substituted 2,3-dihydro-benzo[c]siloles through an unprecedented palladium-catalyzed domino sequence is reported, involving a cyclocarbopalladation of an internal silylalkyne. This reaction proceeds with complete stereoselectivity to lead to a fully substituted exocyclic C=C double bond. Notably, the overall domino sequence appears to be crucial to obtain the desired cyclic vinylsilanes.

Efficient and mild Ullmann-type N-arylation of amides, carbamates, and azoles in water.

A simple, sustainable, efficient, mild, and low-cost protocol was developed for d-glucose-assisted Cu-catalyzed Ullmann reactions in water for amides, carbamates, and nitrogen-containing heterocycles. The reaction was compatible with diverse aryl/heteroaryl iodides, giving highly substituted pyridine, indole, or indazole rings. This method offers an attractive alternative to existing protocols, because the reaction proceeds in aqueous media, occurs at or near ambient temperature, and provides the N-arylated products in good to high yields.

Design and validation of a homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence cell-based assay targeting the ligand-gated ion channel 5-HT3A

Ligand-gated ion channels (LGICs) are considered as attractive protein targets in the search for new therapeutic agents. Nowadays, this strategy involves the capability to screen large chemical libraries. We present a new Tag-lite ligand binding assay targeting LGICs on living cells. This technology combines the use of suicide enzyme tags fused to channels of interest with homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence (HTRF) as the detection readout. Using the 5-HT3 receptor as system model, we showed that the pharmacology of the HALO-5HT3 receptor was identical to that of the native receptor. After validation of the assay by using 5-HT3 agonists and antagonists of reference, a pilot screen enabled us to identify azelastine, a well-known histamine H1 antagonist, as a potent 5-HT3 antagonist. This interesting result was confirmed with electrophysiological experiments. The method described here is easy to implement and could be applicable for other LGICs, opening new ways for the screening of chemical libraries.

Phenylpyridine-2-ylguanidines and rigid mimetics as novel inhibitors of TNFα overproduction: Beneficial action in models of neuropathic pain and of acute lung inflammation

4-phenylpyridin-2-yl-guanidine (5b): a new inhibitor of the overproduction of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα and Il1β) was identified from a high-throughput screening of a chemical library on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) after LPS stimulation. Derivatives, homologues and rigid mimetics of 5b were designed and synthesized, and their cytotoxicity and ability to inhibit TNFα overproduction were evaluated. Among them, compound 5b and its mimetic 12 (2-aminodihydroquinazoline) showed similar inhibitory activities, and were evaluated in vivo in models of lung inflammation and neuropathic pain in mice. In particular, compound 12 proved to be active (5 mg/kg, ip) in both models.