A simple cobalt(II)/N-hydroxyphthalimide catalyst system has been identified for selective conversion of benzylic methylene groups in pharmaceutically relevant (hetero)arenes to the corresponding (hetero)aryl ketones. The radical reaction pathway tolerates electronically diverse benzylic C–H bonds, contrasting recent oxygenation reactions that are initiated by deprotonation of a benzylic C–H bond. The reactions proceed under practical reaction conditions (1 M substrate in BuOAc or EtOAc solvent, 12 h, 90–100 °C), and they tolerate common heterocycles, such as pyridines and imidazoles. A cobalt-free, electrochemical, NHPI-catalyzed oxygenation method overcomes challenges encountered with chelating substrates that inhibit the chemical reaction. The utility of the aerobic oxidation method is showcased in the multigram synthesis of a key intermediate towards a drug candidate (AMG 579) under process-relevant reaction conditions.

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Co/NHPI-mediated aerobic oxygenation of benzylic C–H bonds in pharmaceutically relevant molecules

Bisphenol A and its analogs: Do their metabolites have endocrine activity?

Drug discovery and development is a complex and lengthy enterprise that suffers from high rates of candidate attrition at all stages of the process. The physical, biological, and toxicological properties of a drug candidate are inextricably linked to its structure, and once a molecule has been synthesized, all subsequent studies along the development path are focused only on assessing and understanding its properties in greater detail. Unfortunately, a full prediction of the biological properties of a molecule from an analysis of its 2- or 3-dimensional structure is currently beyond our expertise. This backdrop mandates that considerable care be taken at the design stage if a molecule is to be successful in testing a mechanistic concept underlying a disease process and to progress into late stage clinical trials and, ultimately, marketing approval. While there are multiple potential causes of candidate attrition, an introspective analysis of drug design practices over the past decade has focused attention...

Improving Drug Design: An Update on Recent Applications of Efficiency Metrics, Strategies for Replacing Problematic Elements, and Compounds in Nontraditional Drug Space

Quinolone hybrids and their anti-cancer activities: An overview.

Although idiosyncratic adverse drug reactions are rare, they are still a major concern to patient safety. Reactive metabolites are widely accepted as playing a pivotal role in the pathogenesis of idiosyncratic adverse drug reactions. While there are today well established strategies for the risk assessment of stable metabolites within the pharmaceutical industry, there is still no consensus on reactive metabolite risk assessment strategies. This is due to the complexity of the mechanisms of these toxicities as well as the difficulty in identifying and quantifying short-lived reactive intermediates such as reactive metabolites. In this review, reactive metabolite risk and hazard assessment approaches are discussed, and their pros and cons highlighted. We also discuss the nature of idiosyncratic adverse drug reactions, using acetaminophen and nefazodone to exemplify the complexity of the underlying mechanisms of reactive metabolite mediated hepatotoxicity. One of the key gaps moving forward is our understan...

Reactive Metabolites: Current and Emerging Risk and Hazard Assessments.

Thiophene is a five-membered, sulfur-containing heteroaromatic ring commonly used as a building block in drugs. It is considered to be a structural alert, as its metabolism can lead to the formation of reactive metabolites. Thiophene S-oxides and thiophene epoxides are highly reactive electrophilic thiophene metabolites whose formation is cytochrome P450-dependent. These reactive thiophene-based metabolites are quite often responsible for drug-induced hepatotoxicity. Tienilic acid is an example of a thiophene-based drug that was withdrawn from the market after only a few months of use, due to severe cases of immune hepatitis. However, inclusion of the thiophene moiety in drugs does not necessarily result in toxic effects. The presence of other, less toxic metabolic pathways, as well as an effective detoxification system in our body, protects us from the bioactivation potential of the thiophene ring. Thus, the presence of a structural alert itself is insufficient to predict a compound’s toxicity. The quest...

Bioactivation potential of thiophene-containing drugs.

Estrogenic and androgenic activities of TBBA and TBMEPH, metabolites of novel brominated flame retardants, and selected bisphenols, using the XenoScreen XL YES/YAS assay.

Darja Gramec

Papers

Bioactivation potential of thiophene-containing drugs.

Estrogenic and androgenic activities of TBBA and TBMEPH, metabolites of novel brominated flame retardants, and selected bisphenols, using the XenoScreen XL YES/YAS assay.

Determination of vinblastine in tumour tissue with liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry.