Design and Synthesis of Novel Tricyclic Benzoxazines as Potent 5-HT1A/B/D Receptor Antagonists Leading to the Discovery of 6-{2-[4-(2-methyl-5-quinolinyl)-1-piperazinyl]ethyl}-4H-imidazo[5,1-c][1,4]benzoxazine-3-carboxamide (GSK588045)

Imidazoles as Serotonin Receptor Modulators for Treatment of Depression: Structural Insights and Structure-Activity Relationship Studies

Serotoninergic signaling is identified as a crucial player in psychiatric disorders (notably depression), presenting it as a significant therapeutic target for treating such conditions. Inhibitors of serotoninergic signaling (especially selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) or serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRI)) are prominently selected as first-line therapy for the treatment of depression, which benefits via increasing low serotonin levels and norepinephrine by blocking serotonin/norepinephrine reuptake and thereby increasing activity. While developing newer heterocyclic scaffolds to target/modulate the serotonergic systems, imidazole-bearing pharmacophores have emerged. The imidazole-derived pharmacophore already demonstrated unique structural characteristics and an electron-rich environment, ultimately resulting in a diverse range of bioactivities. Therefore, the current manuscript discloses such a specific modification and structural activity relationship (SAR) of attempted derivatization in terms of the serotonergic efficacy of the resultant inhibitor. We also featured a landscape of imidazole-based development, focusing on SAR studies against the serotoninergic system to target depression. This study covers the recent advancements in synthetic methodologies for imidazole derivatives and the development of new molecules having antidepressant activity via modulating serotonergic systems, along with their SAR studies. The focus of the study is to provide structural insights into imidazole-based derivatives as serotonergic system modulators for the treatment of depression.

Continued Exploration of Trifunctional Alkyl 4-Chloro-2-diazo-3-oxobutanoates: Streamlined Entry into [1,2,3]Triazolo[5,1-c][1,4]benzoxazines and [1,2,3]Triazolo[5,1-c][1,4]benzoxazepines

Further exploration of the trifunctional character of previously introduced alkyl 4-chloro-2-diazo-3-oxobutanoates in reactions with N-protected substituted o-aminophenols followed by deprotection provided a convenient entry into [1,2,3]triazolo[5,1-c][1,4]benzoxazines, which are of high medicinal importance, as documented in the literature. The same approach applied to N-protected substituted o-(aminomethyl)phenols afforded [1,2,3]triazolo[5,1-c][1,4]benzoxazepines, which are practically unexplored compounds from a medicinal chemistry perspective. The syntheses start with SN2-type alkylation of the phenol. Removal of the protecting group triggers imine formation followed by Wolff 1,2,3-triazole synthesis.

Piperazine scaffold: A remarkable tool in generation of diverse pharmacological agents

Piperazine is one of the most sought heterocyclics for the development of new drug candidates. This ring can be traced in a number of well established, commercially available drugs. Wide array of pharmacological activities exhibited by piperazine derivatives have made them indispensable anchors for the development of novel therapeutic agents. The review herein highlights the therapeutic significance of piperazine derivatives. Various therapeutically active piperazine derivatives developed by several chemists are reported here.

Regiospecific synthesis of neuroprotective 1,4-benzoxazine derivatives through a tandem oxidation–Diels–Alder reaction

Highly functionalized 1,4-benzoxazine derivatives have been synthesized at room temperature, with complete regiochemical control, through a tandem oxidation–Diels–Alder reaction.

On water: silver-catalyzed domino approach for the synthesis of benzoxazine/oxazine-fused isoquinolines and naphthyridines from o-alkynyl aldehydes

An operationally simple domino approach for the silver-catalyzed synthesis of oxazine/benzoxazine-fused isoquinolines 5a-q and naphthyridines 6a-v by the reaction of o-alkynyl aldehydes 3a-aa with amines having embedded nucleophiles 4a-d under mild reaction condition in water is described. The reaction shows selective C-N bond formation on the more electrophilic alkynyl carbon resulting in the formation of 6-endo-dig cyclized product. The competitive experiments show the viability of an intramolecular nucleophilic attack over an intermolecular attack of the external nucleophile. This methodology accommodates wide functional group variation, which proves to be useful for structural and biological assessment.

Design and synthesis of novel arylpiperazine derivatives containing the imidazole core targeting 5-HT(2A) receptor and 5-HT transporter

Serotonin antagonist reuptake inhibitor (SARI) drugs that block both 5-HT(2) receptors and the serotonin transporters have been developed. The human 5-HT(2A/2C) receptor has been implicated in several neurological conditions, and potent selective 5-HT(2A/2C) ligands may have therapeutic potential for treatment of CNS diseases such as depression. An imidazole moiety usually provides good pharmacokinetic properties as a drug substance, and thus considerable efforts have been devoted to develop imidazole derivatives into drug candidates. The imidazole series of compounds was evaluated against 5-HT(2A/2C) and serotonin reuptake inhibition. A few of the compounds in the series showed promising IC(50) values and antidepressant-like effect in in vivo forced swimming test (FST). On the basis of these results, further lead optimization studies resulted in identifying promising compounds potentially for therapeutic use.