Aza-analogs of 8-styrylxanthines as A2A-adenosine receptor antagonists

Xanthines as adenosine receptor antagonists

The natural plant alkaloids caffeine and theophylline were the first adenosine receptor (AR) antagonists described in the literature. They exhibit micromolar affinities and are non-selective. A large number of derivatives and analogues were subsequently synthesized and evaluated as AR antagonists. Very potent antagonists have thus been developed with selectivity for each of the four AR subtypes.

Crystal structure study of selected xanthine derivatives

The crystal structures of two compounds belonging to a group of theophylline derivatives have been solved by X-ray powder diffraction methods. Despite the fact that these compounds seemed to be rather simple (23 atoms in an asymmetric unit), the preferred orientation and dominant zone problems created very serious obstacles in the investigations, even for the most modern powder diffraction methods. The crystal structure of the first compound, 8-phenylazoxanthine, C14H14N6O2, was finally solved from laboratory diffractometer data, while in the case of the second compound, 8-(3-bromobenzylidene)xanthine, C15H14N5O2Br, it was not possible to reliably index its diffraction pattern until data had been collected at the high-resolution powder diffractometer ID31 at the ESRF Grenoble. The serious problems encountered during anab initiocrystal structure solution from powder data of these pharmaceutical samples are described and discussed.

Recent developments in adenosine A2A receptor ligands

The development of potent and selective agonists and antagonists of adenosine receptors (ARs) has been a target of medicinal chemistry research for several decades, and recently the US Food and Drug Administration has approved Lexiscan, an adenosine derivative substituted at the 2 position, for use as a pharmacologic stress agent in radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging. Currently, some other adenosine A(2A) receptor (A(2A)AR) agonists and antagonists are undergoing preclinical testing and clinical trials. While agonists are potent antiinflammatory agents also showing hypotensive effects, antagonists are being developed for the treatment of Parkinson's disease.However, since there are still major problems in this field, including side effects, low brain penetration (for the targeting of CNS diseases), short half-life, or lack of in vivo effects, the design and development of new AR ligands is a hot research topic.This review presents an update on the medicinal chemistry of A(2A)AR agonists and antagonists, and stresses the strong need for more selective ligands at the human A(2A)AR subtype, in particular in the case of agonists.

Design and synthesis of N-benzylpiperidine–purine derivatives as new dual inhibitors of acetyl- and butyrylcholinesterase

The synthesis and biological evaluation of N-benzyl-(piperidin or pyrrolidin)-purines are described. Compounds derived from N-benzylpiperidine and N-substituted purines showed moderate acetylcholinesterase inhibition. Preliminary structure-activity relationships and a superimposition of the best compound with the active conformation of donepezil have revealed structural features that have been used in the design of more potent N-benzylpiperidine inhibitors bearing an 8-substituted caffeine fragment and a methoxymethyl linker. These new compounds are interesting dual inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase and have been chosen for further optimisation.

Synthesis and antiproliferative activity in vitro of 2-aminobenzimidazole derivatives

A novel series of Schiff bases 1-11, the derivatives of 2-aminobenzimidazole and substituted aromatic aldehydes, has been synthesised. Compounds 1-11 reduced by NaBH(4) formed 2-benzylaminobenzimidazoles 12-21. 2-(o-Bromobenzylamino)benzimidazole (15) acylated by cinnamoyl chloride gave 2-(o-bromobenzylamino)-1-cinnamoylbenzimidazole (22). Long heating of 15 and 19 with p-nitrocinnamoyl or cinnamoyl chloride led to the formation of pyrimido[1,2-a]benzimidazol-4-ones 23 and 24. The structures of 1-24 were identified by the results of elemental analysis and their IR, (1)H NMR and MS spectra. Among the compounds 1-24 evaluated for their antiproliferative activity in vitro, 16, 19, 20 and 22 exhibited cytotoxic activity against the cells of human cancer cell lines, namely SW707 (rectal), HCV29T (bladder), A549 (lung) and T47D (breast cancer).

8-(Sulfostyryl)xanthines: water-soluble A2A-selective adenosine receptor antagonists

8-(Sulfostyryl)xanthine derivatives were synthesized as water-soluble A2A-selective adenosine receptor (AR) antagonists. meta- and para-sulfostyryl-DMPX (3,7-dimethyl-1-propargylxanthine) derivatives 11a and 11b exhibited high affinity to rat A2A-AR in submicromolar concentrations, and were 20- to 30-fold selective versus rat A1-AR. Styryl-DMPX derivatives were inactive at human A2B- and A3-AR. 1,3-Dipropyl-8-p-sulfostyrylxanthine (13) or only a 7-methyl derivative (14) showed similar (13) or higher (14) A2A affinity than 11a and 11b but showed no (13) or only a low degree (14) of selectivity versus A1-, A2B-, and A3-AR. The A2A-selective sulfostyryl-DMPX derivatives exhibit high water-solubility and may be useful research tools for in vivo studies.