Takashi Sugane

Synthesis and biological evaluation of 3-biphenyl-4-yl-4-phenyl-4H-1,2,4-triazoles as novel glycine transporter 1 inhibitors.

We describe the preparation and evaluation of a novel series of glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1) inhibitors derived from a high-throughput screening hit. The SAR studies resulted in the discovery of 3-biphenyl-4-yl-4-(2-fluorophenyl)-5-isopropyl-4H-1,2,4-triazole (6p). A pharmacokinetic study was also conducted and revealed that 6p had excellent oral bioavailability and ameliorated learning impairment in passive avoidance tasks in mice.

Atropisomeric 4-phenyl-4H-1,2,4-triazoles as selective glycine transporter 1 inhibitors.

We report on the optimization of 4H-1,2,4-triazole derivatives to increase their activity and selectivity as glycine transporter 1 (GlyT1) inhibitors. Structure-activity relationship exploration resulted in the identification of a 3-[3-ethyl-5-(6-phenylpyridin-3-yl)-4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-yl]-2-methylbenzonitrile (14u) compound with markedly higher selectivity for GlyT1. Physiochemical studies revealed that 14u exists as a stable pair of atropisomers under physiological conditions. We successfully separated the atropisomers to obtain active enantiomer (R)-14u, which displayed favorable pharmacokinetic properties, as well as positive results in the mice Y-maze test.

Synthesis and biological evaluation of (4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-yl)isoquinoline derivatives as selective glycine transporter 1 inhibitors.

To identify novel glycine transporter 1(GlyT1) inhibitors with greater selectivity relative to GlyT2 and improved aqueous solubility, we synthesized a series of 4H-1,2,4-triazole derivatives with heteroaromatic rings at the 4-position and investigated their structure-activity relationships. Replacement of the 2-fluorophenyl group of lead compound 5 with various aromatic groups led to the identification of 5-(3-biphenyl-4-yl-5-ethyl-4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-yl)isoquinoline (15) with 38-fold selectivity between GlyT1 and GlyT2. 15 also showed improved aqueous solubility and in vivo efficacy on (+)-HA966-induced hyperlocomotion in mice over the lead compound.