A comparison of combinatorial library approaches for the study of opioid compounds

Identification of potent and highly selective chiral tri-amine and tetra-amine μ opioid receptors ligands: An example of lead optimization using mixture-based libraries

The generation of chiral polyamine libraries has been successfully accomplished in our laboratory following exhaustive reduction of resin-bound peptides. Herein, we report the synthesis and screening results of a positional scanning mixture-based library of chiral hepta-amines in a radioreceptor assay for the opioid receptor. The positional scanning hepta-amine library was generated by the exhaustive reduction of a library of 34,012,070 hexapeptides. Following screening of the entire library, combinations of the most active functionalities found at each position were used to synthesize and screen 40 individual hepta-amines and served as starting 'hits' for further SAR studies. The individual compounds showed IC(50) values ranging from 14 to 345 nM. As might be anticipated by the known studies of mu opiate antagonists, the identified active hepta-amines possessed aromatic rings derived from phenylalanine and tyrosine amino acid side chains. Following SAR studies, a truncation analog, reduced and permethylated YYF-NH(2), was found to be highly active (0.5 nM) as a selective mu antagonist in the guinea pig ileum bioassay.

In vitro and direct in vivo testing of mixture-based combinatorial libraries for the identification of highly active and specific opiate ligands

The use of combinatorial libraries for the identification of novel opiate and related ligands in opioid receptor assays is reviewed. Case studies involving opioid assays used to demonstrate the viability of combinatorial libraries are described. The identification of new opioid peptides composed of L-amino acids, D-amino acids, or L-, D-, and unnatural amino acids is reviewed. New opioid compounds have also been identified from peptidomimetic libraries, such as peptoids and alkylated dipeptides, and those identified from acyclic (eg, polyamine, urea) and heterocyclic (eg, bicyclic guanidine) libraries are reviewed.

Combinatorial chemistry: libraries from libraries, the art of the diversity-oriented transformation of resin-bound peptides and chiral polyamides to low molecular weight acyclic and heterocyclic compounds

Combinatorial chemistry has deeply impacted the drug discovery process by accelerating the synthesis and screening of large numbers of compounds having therapeutic and/or diagnostic potential. These techniques offer unique enhancement in the potential identification of new and/or therapeutic candidates. Our efforts over the past 10 years in the design and diversity-oriented synthesis of low molecular weight acyclic and heterocyclic combinatorial libraries derived from amino acids, peptides, and/or peptidomimetics are described. Employing a "toolbox" of various chemical transformations, including alkylation, oxidation, reduction, acylation, and the use of a variety of multifunctional reagents, the "libraries from libraries" concept has enabled the continued development of an ever-expanding, structurally varied series of organic chemical libraries.

New opioid peptides, peptidomimetics, and heterocyclic compounds from combinatorial libraries

Here we review the use of combinatorial libraries in opioid receptor assays. Following a brief description of the history of the combinatorial field, methods for the generation of synthetic libraries and the deconvolution of mixture-based libraries are presented. Case studies involving opioid assays used to demonstrate the viability of combinatorial libraries are described. The identification of new opioid peptides from combinatorial libraries is reviewed. The peptides found are composed of L-amino acids, D-amino acids, or L-, D-, and unnatural amino acids, and range from tetrapeptides to decapeptides. Likewise, new opioid compounds identified from peptidomimetic libraries, such as peptoids and alkylated dipeptides, and those identified from acyclic (e.g., polyamine, urea) and heterocyclic (e.g., bicyclic guanidine) libraries, are reviewed.

Combinatorial chemistry as a tool for drug discovery

The question 'will combinatorial chemistry deliver real medicines' has been posed [96]. First it is important to realise that the chemical part of the drug discovery process cannot stand alone; the integration of synthesis and biological assays is fundamental to the combinatorial approach. The results presented in Tables 3.1 to 3.8 suggest that so far smaller directed combinatorial libraries have obtained equivalent results to those obtained previously from traditional medicinal chemistry analogue programs. Unfortunately, because of the long time it takes to develop pharmaceutical drugs there are no examples yet of marketed drugs discovered by combinatorial methods. There are interesting examples where active leads have been discovered from the screening of the same library against multiple targets (e.g. libraries 13, 39, 43, 66, 71 and 76). It is now possible to handle much larger libraries of non-oligomeric structures and the chemistry required for such applications is becoming available. Whether combinatorial approaches can also be adapted to deal with all the other requirements of a successful pharmaceutical (lack of toxicity, bioavailability etc.) is open to question but there are already examples such as cassette dosing [235-237]. However we can still be optimistic about the possibility of larger libraries producing avenues of investigation for the medicinal chemist to develop into real drugs. Combinatorial chemistry is an important tool for the medicinal chemist.

Synthetic library techniques: subjective (biased and generic) thoughts and views

Various aspects of synthetic diversity generation and screening are discussed. Controversial issues are raised and different points of view are presented. We hope the article will stimulate thinking about the utilization of library techniques and start a discussion about questions concerning their application.

Generation and utilization of synthetic combinatorial libraries

The use of combinatorial chemistry is fundamentally changing the pace and scope of basic research and drug discovery. Since the introduction of synthetic peptide libraries several years ago, combinatorial chemistry has proven to be a powerful tool for the generation of immense molecular diversities of peptides, peptidomimetics and new organic compounds. This article briefly reviews methods for the generation and application of combinatorial libraries, with particular emphasis on soluble synthetic combinatorial libraries. The utility of these molecular diversities for basic research and drug discovery has been demonstrated through the identification of numerous highly active compounds such as antigenic peptides, receptor ligands, antimicrobial compounds and enzyme inhibitors.