Impact of stereospecific intramolecular hydrogen bonding on cell permeability and physicochemical properties

J Med Chem. 2014 Mar 27;57(6):2746-54. doi: 10.1021/jm500059t. Epub 2014 Feb 26.

Abstract

Profiling of eight stereoisomeric T. cruzi growth inhibitors revealed vastly different in vitro properties such as solubility, lipophilicity, pKa, and cell permeability for two sets of four stereoisomers. Using computational chemistry and NMR spectroscopy, we identified the formation of an intramolecular NH→NR3 hydrogen bond in the set of stereoisomers displaying lower solubility, higher lipophilicity, and higher cell permeability. The intramolecular hydrogen bond resulted in a significant pKa difference that accounts for the other structure-property relationships. Application of this knowledge could be of particular value to maintain the delicate balance of size, solubility, and lipophilicity required for cell penetration and oral administration for chemical probes or therapeutics with properties at, or beyond, Lipinski's rule of 5.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Algorithms
  • Animals
  • Caco-2 Cells
  • Cell Membrane Permeability / drug effects*
  • Computational Biology
  • Drug Design
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen Bonding
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Kinetics
  • Lipids / chemistry
  • Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Conformation
  • Small Molecule Libraries
  • Solubility
  • Stereoisomerism
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Trypanosoma cruzi / drug effects*

Substances

  • Lipids
  • Small Molecule Libraries