Design, synthesis and evaluation of C-5 substituted pyrrolopyridine derivatives as potent Janus Kinase 1 inhibitors with excellent selectivity

Abstract

The development of highly selective Janus Kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitors is crucial for improving efficacy and minimizing adverse effects in the clinical treatment of autoimmune diseases. In a prior study, we designed a series of C-5 4-pyrazol substituted pyrrolopyridine derivatives that demonstrated significant potency against JAK1, with a 10 ∼ 20-fold selectivity over Janus Kinase 2 (JAK2). Building on this foundation, we adopted orthogonal strategy by modifying the C-5 position with 3-pyrazol/4-pyrazol/3-pyrrol groups and tail with substituted benzyl groups on the pyrrolopyridine head to enhance both potency and selectivity. In this endeavor, we have identified several compounds that exhibit excellent potency and selectivity for JAK1. Notably, compounds 12b and 12e, which combined 4-pyrazol group at C-5 site and meta-substituted benzyl tails, displayed IC₅₀ value with 2.4/2.2 nM and high 352-/253-fold selectivity for JAK1 over JAK2 in enzyme assays. Additionally, both compounds showed good JAK1-selective in Ba/F3-TEL-JAK1/2 cell-based assays. These findings mark a substantial improvement, as these compounds are 10-fold more potent and over 10-fold more selective than the best compound identified in our previous study. The noteworthy potency and selectivity properties of compounds 12b and 12e suggest their potential utility in furthering the development of drugs for autoimmune diseases.

Keywords: Autoimmune diseases; JAK-STAT pathway; JAK1-Selective inhibitor; Orthogonal strategy; Pyrrolopyridine skeleton.