Fluorine is the most electronegative element in the periodic table. When bound to carbon it forms the strongest bonds in organic chemistry and this makes fluorine substitution attractive for the development of pharmaceuticals and a wide range of speciality materials. Although highly polarised, the C–F bond gains stability from the resultant electrostatic attraction between the polarised Cδ+ and Fδ– atoms. This polarity suppresses lone pair donation from fluorine and in general fluorine is a weak coordinator. However, the C–F bond has interesting properties which can be understood either in terms of electrostatic/dipole interactions or by considering stereoelectronic interactions with neighbouring bonds or lone pairs. In this tutorial review these fundamental aspects of the C–F bond are explored to rationalise the geometry, conformation and reactivity of individual organofluorine compounds.

Understanding organofluorine chemistry. An introduction to the C–F bond

Obesity is globally prevalent and highly heritable, but its underlying genetic factors remain largely elusive. To identify genetic loci for obesity susceptibility, we examined associations between body mass index and similar to 2.8 million SNPs in up to 123,865 individuals with targeted follow up of 42 SNPs in up to 125,931 additional individuals. We confirmed 14 known obesity susceptibility loci and identified 18 new loci associated with body mass index (P < 5 x 10(-8)), one of which includes a copy number variant near GPRC5B. Some loci (at MC4R, POMC, SH2B1 and BDNF) map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance, and one of these loci is near GIPR, an incretin receptor. Furthermore, genes in other newly associated loci may provide new insights into human body weight regulation.

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Association analyses of 249,796 individuals reveal 18 new loci associated with body mass index

The role of fluorine in drug design and development is expanding rapidly as we learn more about the unique properties associated with this unusual element and how to deploy it with greater sophistication. The judicious introduction of fluorine into a molecule can productively influence conformation, pKa, intrinsic potency, membrane permeability, metabolic pathways, and pharmacokinetic properties. In addition, 18F has been established as a useful positron emitting isotope for use with in vivo imaging technology that potentially has extensive application in drug discovery and development, often limited only by convenient synthetic accessibility to labeled compounds. The wide ranging applications of fluorine in drug design are providing a strong stimulus for the development of new synthetic methodologies that allow more facile access to a wide range of fluorinated compounds. In this review, we provide an update on the effects of the strategic incorporation of fluorine in drug molecules and applications in po...

Applications of Fluorine in Medicinal Chemistry

The concept of isosterism between relatively simple chemical entities was originally contemplated by James Moir in 1909, a notion further refined by H. G. Grimm’s hydride displacement law and captured more effectively in the ideas advanced by Irving Langmuir based on experimental observations. Langmuir coined the term “isostere” and, 18 years in advance of its actual isolation and characterization, predicted that the physical properties of the then unknown ketene would resemble those of diazomethane. The emergence of bioisosteres as structurally distinct compounds recognized similarly by biological systems has its origins in a series of studies published byHans Erlenmeyer in the 1930s, who extended earlier work conducted by Karl Landsteiner. Erlenmeyer showed that antibodies were unable to discriminate between phenyl and thienyl rings or O, NH, and CH2 in the context of artificial antigens derived by reacting diazonium ions with proteins, a process that derivatized the ortho position of tyrosine, as summarized in Figure 1 The term “bioisostere” was introduced by Harris Friedman in 1950 who defined it as compounds eliciting a similar biological effect while recognizing that compounds may be isosteric but not necessarily bioisosteric. This notion anticipates that the application of bioisosterism will depend on context, relying much less on physicochemical properties as the underlying principle for biochemical mimicry. Bioisosteres are typically less than exact structural mimetics and are often more alike in biological rather than physical properties. Thus, an effective bioisostere for one biochemical application may not translate to another setting, necessitating the careful selection and tailoring of an isostere for a specific circumstance. Consequently, the design of bioisosteres frequently introduces structural changes that can be beneficial or deleterious depending on the context, with size, shape, electronic distribution, polarizability, dipole, polarity, lipophilicity, and pKa potentially playing key contributing roles in molecular recognition and mimicry. In the contemporary practice of medicinal chemistry, the development and application of bioisosteres have been adopted as a fundamental tactical approach useful to address a number of aspects associated with the design and development of drug candidates. The established utility of bioisosteres is broad in nature, extending to improving potency, enhancing selectivity, altering physical properties, reducing or redirecting metabolism, eliminating or modifying toxicophores, and acquiring novel intellectual property. In this Perspective, some contemporary themes exploring the role of isosteres in drug design are sampled, with an emphasis placed on tactical applications designed to solve the kinds of problems that impinge on compound optimization and the long-term success of drug candidates. Interesting concepts that may have been poorly effective in the context examined are captured, since the ideas may have merit in alternative circumstances. A comprehensive cataloging of bioisosteres is beyond the scope of what will be provided, although a synopsis of relevant isosteres of a particular functionality is summarized in a succinct fashion in several sections. Isosterism has also found productive application in the design and optimization of organocatalysts, and there are several examples in which functional mimicry established initially in a medicinal chemistry setting has been adopted by this community.

Synopsis of some recent tactical application of bioisosteres in drug design.

: The unpolarized absorption and circular dichroism spectra of the fundamental vibrational transitions of the chiral molecule, 4-methyl-2-oxetanone, are calculated ab initio. Harmonic force fields are obtained using Density Functional Theory (DFT), MP2, and SCF methodologies and a 5S4P2D/3S2P (TZ2P) basis set. DFT calculations use the Local Spin Density Approximation (LSDA), BLYP, and Becke3LYP (B3LYP) density functionals. Mid-IR spectra predicted using LSDA, BLYP, and B3LYP force fields are of significantly different quality, the B3LYP force field yielding spectra in clearly superior, and overall excellent, agreement with experiment. The MP2 force field yields spectra in slightly worse agreement with experiment than the B3LYP force field. The SCF force field yields spectra in poor agreement with experiment.The basis set dependence of B3LYP force fields is also explored: the 6-31G* and TZ2P basis sets give very similar results while the 3-21G basis set yields spectra in substantially worse agreements with experiment. jg

Ab initio calculation of vibrational absorption and circular dichroism spectra using density functional force fields

Full geometry optimizations were carried out at the HF/6-31G** and B3LYP/6-31G** levels for methylcyclohexane, 2-, 3-, and 4-methyltetrahydropyran, 2-, 3-, and 4-methylpiperidine, 2-, 3-, and 4-methylthiane, 2-, 4-, and 5-methyl-1,3-dioxane, and 2-, 4-, and 5-methyl-1,3-dithiane and also for S-methyl thianium. Constrained geometry optimizations were carried out for methylcyclohexane, 2-methyl-1,3-dioxane, and the axial conformers of 2- and 3-methyltetrahydropyran and 2- and 3-methylpiperidine. The steric repulsion model, which is believed to account for the conformational energies of the cited compounds, was tested by stretching bonds and bending angles so that the axial methyl group is either forced to approach the ring gamma methylenes or get farther away from them. The calculated energies show that the energy costs of these perturbations are not dependent on the distances between the axial methyl group and the ring gamma methylenes and are not dependent on whether the methyl is axial or equatorial. It is shown that, besides the steric repulsion model, the conformational energies of the compounds studied are dictated by hyperconjugative interactions involving mainly the methine hydrogen. The C[bond]C lengths of the axial and equatorial conformers of methylcyclohexane are shown to be related to hyperconjugation.

The role of hyperconjugation in the conformational analysis of methylcyclohexane and methylheterocyclohexanes

OBJECTIVE In obesity, an increased macrophage infiltration in adipose tissue occurs, contributing to low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance. Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mediates both chemotaxis and proliferation in monocytes and macrophages. However, the role of EGFR inhibitors in this subclinical inflammation has not yet been investigated. We investigated, herein, in vivo efficacy and associated molecular mechanisms by which PD153035, an EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor, improved diabetes control and insulin action. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The effect of PD153035 was investigated on insulin sensitivity, insulin signaling, and c-Jun NH 2 -terminal kinase (JNK) and nuclear factor (NF)-κB activity in tissues of high-fat diet (HFD)-fed mice and also on infiltration and the activation state of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) in these mice. RESULTS PD153035 treatment for 1 day decreased the protein expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interleukin (IL)-6 in the stroma vascular fraction, suggesting that this drug reduces the M1 proinflammatory state in ATMs, as an initial effect, in turn reducing the circulating levels of TNF-α and IL-6, and initiating an improvement in insulin signaling and sensitivity. After 14 days of drug administration, there was a marked improvement in glucose tolerance; a reduction in insulin resistance; a reduction in macrophage infiltration in adipose tissue and in TNF-α, IL-6, and free fatty acids; accompanied by an improvement in insulin signaling in liver, muscle, and adipose tissue; and also a decrease in insulin receptor substrate-1 Ser 307 phosphorylation in JNK and inhibitor of NF-κB kinase (IKKβ) activation in these tissues. CONCLUSIONS Treatment with PD153035 improves glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and signaling and reduces subclinical inflammation in HFD-fed mice.

https://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/diabetes/58/12/2910.full.pdf

EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (PD153035) Improves Glucose Tolerance and Insulin Action in High-Fat Diet–Fed Mice

Axial-equatorial conformational proportions have been measured for 2-substituted cycloheranones in chloroform by the Eliel method for F, Cl, Br, I, MeO, MeS, Me 2 N, MeSe, and Me. For the first seven of these, at least five experimentally independent measurables were used and the resulting conformational preferences appear to be accurate to within 10%. Systematic errors degraded the results for MeSe and Me. For Me 2 N, the conformational preference also was measured for the first time at slow exchange in the low-temperature 13 C spectrum in several solvents. In chloroform, steric and polar effects contribute to the conformational preferences, with steric effects dominant for large groups such as I and MeS

Axial/equatorial proportions for 2-substituted cyclohexanones

Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, has an atmosphere chiefly made up of N2 and CH4 and includes traces of many simple organic compounds. This atmosphere also partly consists of haze and aerosol particles which during the last 4.5 gigayears have been processed by electric discharges, ions, and ionizing photons, being slowly deposited over the Titan surface. In this work, we investigate the possible effects produced by soft X-rays (and secondary electrons) on Titan aerosol analogs in an attempt to simulate some prebiotic photochemistry. The experiments have been performed inside a high vacuum chamber coupled to the soft X-ray spectroscopy beamline at the Brazilian Synchrotron Light Source, Campinas, Brazil. In-situ sample analyses were performed by a Fourier transform infrared spectrometer. The infrared spectra have presented several organic molecules, including nitriles and aromatic CN compounds. After the irradiation, the brownish-orange organic residue (tholin) was analyzed ex-situ by gas chromatogr...

DNA Nucleobase Synthesis at Titan Atmosphere Analog by Soft X-rays †

This paper emphasizes that fluorine atoms in organic molecules need special geometric requirements to experience intramolecular hydrogen bonds (H-bonds). Calculations at the B3LYP/aug-cc-pVDZ theoretical level and using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules applied over a series of monocyclic compounds, which have similar CC(F)–C(OH)C fragments, predict that the F⋯HO intramolecular H-bond does not exist when forming five-membered rings. Indeed, it is shown that the geometric restrictions imposed by the rigid rings are the main reasons in preventing fluorine participating in such a F⋯HO intramolecular H-bond.

Roberto Rittner

Papers

The role of hyperconjugation in the conformational analysis of methylcyclohexane and methylheterocyclohexanes

EGFR Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor (PD153035) Improves Glucose Tolerance and Insulin Action in High-Fat Diet–Fed Mice

Axial/equatorial proportions for 2-substituted cyclohexanones

DNA Nucleobase Synthesis at Titan Atmosphere Analog by Soft X-rays †

The F⋯HO intramolecular hydrogen bond forming five-membered rings hardly appear in monocyclic organofluorine compounds