Cyclic nitrone free radical traps: isolation, identification, and synthesis of 3,3-dimethyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-4-ol N-oxide, a metabolite with reduced side effects.

A C-4 hydroxylated metabolite (2, 3,3-dimethyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-4-ol N-oxide) of the previously described cyclic nitrone free radical trap 1 (3,3-dimethyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline N-oxide, a cyclic analog of phenyl-tert-butylnitrone (PBN)) was isolated, identified, and synthesized. The metabolite (2), though a less potent antioxidant than 1 in an in vitro lipid peroxidation assay, showed greatly reduced acute toxicity and sedative properties. Several analogs of 2 were prepared in attempts to improve on its weak antioxidant activity while retaining the desirable side effect profile.

Design, synthesis, and in vitro evaluation of cyclic nitrones as free radical traps for the treatment of stroke.

Analogs of the cyclic nitrone free radical trap 1 (3,3-dimethyl-3,4-dihydroisoquinoline N-oxide, a cyclic analog of phenyl-tert-butylnitrone (PBN)) were prepared in which (1) the fused phenyl ring was replaced with a naphthalene ring, an electron rich heterocycle, or a dimethylphenol, (2) the nitrone-containing ring comprised five, six, or seven atoms, and (3) the gem-dimethyl group was replaced with spirocyclic groups. The most active antioxidant, which bears a dimethylphenol fused to a 7-membered ring nitrone (compound 6h), inhibited lipid peroxidation in vitro with an IC50 of 22 microM, a 75-fold improvement over that of 1. The previously observed correlation between lipophilicity and activity vs lipid peroxidation in vitro has been further substantiated and refined by this study.

Inhibitors of acyl CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase.

Conformational restriction of previously disclosed acyclic (diphenylethyl)diphenylacetamides led to the discovery of several potent inhibitors of acyl CoA:cholesterol acyltransferase (ACAT). cis-[2-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)-1-indanyl]diphenylacetamide (4a) was the most potent ACAT inhibitor identified (IC50 = 0.04 microM in an in vitro rat hepatic microsomal ACAT assay, ED50 = 0.

Estrogen receptor binding tolerance of 16 alpha-substituted estradiol derivatives.

In order to examine the tolerance of the estrogen receptor for 16 alpha-substituents in estradiol, we have synthesized various 16 alpha-substituted estrogens and determined their binding affinity for receptor by a competitive radiometric binding assay. The substituents ranged from small, single-atom substituents (halogens), two-atom substituents (halomethyl groups), to larger alkyl groups and ultimately alkyl groups bearing various functionality, including fluorescent (nitrobenzoxadiazole, NBD) and photoreactive (nitroazidophenyl, NAP) groups. The estrogen receptor seems to have a moderate tolerance for bulky substituents: All of the halogen and halomethyl substituents bind with an affinity at least 50% that of estradiol; in the three atom alkyl series, the affinity declined markedly from propargyl (44%) and allyl (38%) to propyl (5%), suggestive of detailed steric constraints or a preference for unsaturation.