Over the past decade, the most significant, conceptual advances in the field of fluorination were enabled most prominently by organo- and transition-metal catalysis. The most challenging transformation remains the formation of the parent C-F bond, primarily as a consequence of the high hydration energy of fluoride, strong metal-fluorine bonds, and highly polarized bonds to fluorine. Most fluorination reactions still lack generality, predictability, and cost-efficiency. Despite all current limitations, modern fluorination methods have made fluorinated molecules more readily available than ever before and have begun to have an impact on research areas that do not require large amounts of material, such as drug discovery and positron emission tomography. This Review gives a brief summary of conventional fluorination reactions, including those reactions that introduce fluorinated functional groups, and focuses on modern developments in the field.

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Introduction of Fluorine and Fluorine-Containing Functional Groups

Palladium-catalyzed amination reactions of aryl halides have undergone rapid development in the last 12 years, largely driven by the implementation of new classes of ligands. Biaryl phosphanes have proven to provide especially active catalysts in this context. This Review discusses the application of these catalysts in C-N cross-coupling reactions in the synthesis of heterocycles and pharmaceuticals, in materials science, and in natural product synthesis.

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Biaryl Phosphane Ligands in Palladium‐Catalyzed Amination

The electronic properties and relatively small size of fluorine endow it with considerable versatility as a bioisostere and it has found application as a substitute for lone pairs of electrons, the hydrogen atom, and the methyl group while also acting as a functional mimetic of the carbonyl, carbinol, and nitrile moieties. In this context, fluorine substitution can influence the potency, conformation, metabolism, membrane permeability, and P-gp recognition of a molecule and temper inhibition of the hERG channel by basic amines. However, as a consequence of the unique properties of fluorine, it features prominently in the design of higher order structural metaphors that are more esoteric in their conception and which reflect a more sophisticated molecular construction that broadens biological mimesis. In this Perspective, applications of fluorine in the construction of bioisosteric elements designed to enhance the in vitro and in vivo properties of a molecule are summarized.

Fluorine and Fluorinated Motifs in the Design and Application of Bioisosteres for Drug Design.

B-type receptors for the neurotransmitter GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) inhibit neuronal activity through G-protein-coupled second-messenger systems, which regulate the release of neurotransmitters and the activity of ion channels and adenylyl cyclase. Physiological and biochemical studies show that there are differences in drug efficiencies at different GABA(B) receptors, so it is expected that GABA(B)-receptor (GABA(B)R) subtypes exist. Two GABA(B)-receptor splice variants have been cloned (GABA(B)R1a and GABA(B)R1b), but native GABA(B) receptors and recombinant receptors showed unexplained differences in agonist-binding potencies. Moreover, the activation of presumed effector ion channels in heterologous cells expressing the recombinant receptors proved difficult. Here we describe a new GABA(B) receptor subtype, GABA(B)R2, which does not bind available GABA(B) antagonists with measurable potency. GABA(B)R1a, GABA(B)R1b and GABA(B)R2 alone do not activate Kir3-type potassium channels efficiently, but co-expression of these receptors yields a robust coupling to activation of Kir3 channels. We provide evidence for the assembly of heteromeric GABA(B) receptors in vivo and show that GABA(B)R2 and GABA(B)R1a/b proteins immunoprecipitate and localize together at dendritic spines. The heteromeric receptor complexes exhibit a significant increase in agonist- and partial-agonist-binding potencies as compared with individual receptors and probably represent the predominant native GABA(B) receptor. Heteromeric assembly among G-protein-coupled receptors has not, to our knowledge, been described before.

Gabab-receptor subtypes assemble into functional heteromeric complexes

GABA (gamma-amino-butyric acid), the principal inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, signals through ionotropic (GABA(A)/ GABA(c)) and metabotropic (GABA(B)) receptor systems. Here we report the cloning of GABA(B) receptors. Photoaffinity labelling experiments suggest that the cloned receptors correspond to two highly conserved GABA(B) receptor forms present in the vertebrate nervous system. The cloned receptors negatively couple to adenylyl cyclase and show sequence similarity to the metabotropic receptors for the excitatory neurotransmitter L-glutamate.

Expression cloning of GABA(B) receptors uncovers similarity to metabotropic glutamate receptors.

CGP 35348: a centrally active blocker of GABAB receptors.

In 1987, 25 years after the synthesis of the potent and selective GABA B agonist baclofen (1), Kerr et al. 5 described the first GABA B antagonist phaclofen 2. However, phaclofen and structurally similar derivatives 3-5 did not cross the blood-brain barrier and hence were inactive in vivo as central nervous system agents. As a consequence, the therapeutic potential of GABA B antagonists remained unclear. In exploring GABA and baclofen derivatives by replacing the carboxylic acid residue with various phosphinic acid groups, we discovered more potent and water soluble GABA B antagonists. Electrophysiological experiments in vivo demonstrated that some of the new compounds were capable of penetrating the blood-brain barrier after oral administration. Neurotransmitter release experiments showed that they interacted with several presynaptic GABA B receptor subtypes, enhancing the release of GABA, glutamate, aspartate, and somatostatin. The new GABA B antagonists interacted also with postsynaptic GABA B receptors, as they blocked late inhibitory postsynaptic potentials. They facilitated the induction of long-term potentiation in vitro and in vivo, suggesting potential cognition enhancing effects. Fifteen compounds were investigated in various memory and learning paradigms in rodents. Although several compounds were found to be active, only 10 reversed the age-related deficits of old rats in a multiple-trial one-way active avoidance test after chronic treatment. The cognition facilitating effects of 10 were confirmed in learning experiments in Rhesus monkeys. The novel GABA B antagonists showed also protective effects in various animal models of absence epilepsy

Phosphinic acid analogues of GABA. 2. Selective, orally active GABAB antagonists.

The antispastic agent and muscle relaxant baclofen 1 is a potent and selective agonist for bicuculline-insensitive GABAB receptors. For many years efforts to obtain superior GABAB agonists were unsuccessful. We describe the syntheses and biological properties of two new series of GABAB agonists, the best compounds of which are more potent than baclofen in vitro and in vivo. They were obtained by replacing the carboxylic acid group of GABA or baclofen derivatives with either the phosphinic acid or the methylphosphinic acid residue. Surprisingly, ethyl- and higher alkylphosphinic acid derivatives of GABA yielded novel GABAB antagonists, which are described in part 2 of this series. Structure-activity relationships of the novel GABAB agonists are discussed with respect to their affinities to GABAB receptors as well as to their effects in many functional tests in vitro and in vivo providing new muscle relaxant drugs with significantly improved side effect profiles.

Phosphinic acid analogues of GABA. 1. New potent and selective GABAB agonists.

Fluorine-containing compounds are at the leading edge of many new developments in the life science industry. In recent years a steady increase in the number of fluorinated organic molecules reaching commercial status as crop protection products and pharmaceutical drugs has been observed: in 1978, ca. 600 pesticides were known, but only approximately 25 (4%) contained fluorine. Today, fluorine-containing compounds account for more than 17% of all commercially available crop protection agents and many others are currently under development. The structures of the fluorine-containing development compounds proposed for ISO common names between 1997 and 2002 are highlighted in this paper. In the pharmaceutical area around 220 fluorinated drugs were on the market in 1990, representing ca. 8% of all synthetic drugs. Six years later already more than 1500 fluorine-containing drugs were under development. Fluorine-containing compounds have also been successful in the marketplace, such as the insecticides fipronil and lambda-cyhalothrin, the fungicides epoxiconazole and trifloxystrobin, the herbicides trifluralin and clodinafop, and the pharmaceutical blockbusters Fluoxetine (Prozac®), Paroxetine (Paxil®), Ciprofloxacin (Cipro®) and Cisaprid (Propulsid®). This success is mainly due to the fact that selectively fluorinated compounds can exhibit dramatically improved potency when compared to the non-fluorinated analogues. The incorporation of fluorine into a biologically active compound alters the electronic, lipophilic and steric parameters and can critically increase the intrinsic activity, the chemical and metabolic stability, and the bioavailability. The positive effects of fluorine on the biological efficiency is outlined by three examples: in the chemical class of herbicidal thiatriazines, the presence or the absence of fluorine leads to dramatic effects on the biological activity; the metabolic stability and the pharmacokinetics of aminopyrazinone acetamide thrombin inhibitors were improved by the introduction of fluorine, and in a novel class of insecticides/acaricides any modification of the gem-difluorovinyl group results in a strong decrease of biological activity.

The importance of fluorine in the life science industry

A compound of the formula (I), wherein the substituents are as defined in claim 1, are useful as a pesticides.

Roger Graham Hall

Papers

CGP 35348: a centrally active blocker of GABAB receptors.

Phosphinic acid analogues of GABA. 2. Selective, orally active GABAB antagonists.

Phosphinic acid analogues of GABA. 1. New potent and selective GABAB agonists.

The importance of fluorine in the life science industry

Spiroheterocyclic n-oxypiperidines as pesticides