OXAZOLIDINONES AS A PRIVILEGED SCAFFOLD AND PRELIMINARY EVALUATION

Abstract

Drug discovery contains many strategies, one of which is the privileged scaffold strategy. This strategy incorporates a similar molecular framework within a collection of drug-like compounds in order to target various receptors. These scaffolds are useful to drug discovery scientists since they assist in developing libraries as well as demonstrating selectivity to a target. Oxazolidinones are 5-membered heterocyclic compound containing an oxygen, a nitrogen, and a carbonyl within the ring system. In this present study, the oxazolidinone structure was utilized as a privileged scaffold to target serotonin receptor 7 (5-HT7), mutated BRAF kinase (BRAFV6000E), Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), and Cyclin-dependent protein kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6). Aryl piperazines and piperidines were integrated as another privileged scaffold to support the selectivity towards 5-HT7, while aminopyrimidines were employed to increase binding against the kinases. The 5-HT7 oxazolidinone series was successfully synthesized and analyzed against 5-HT7; however, the three kinase oxazolidinone series were not successfully synthesized.Candidemia is the most common bloodstream infection in the U.S. and is associated with high patient mortality rates. Due to prolonged and/or repeated clinical use of current antifungal agents, drug-resistant fungi have become an emerging problem. There is a need for new antifungals to assist in overcoming drug resistant fungi. In the second project outlined in this work, a series of ketoconazole analogs were designed and successfully synthesized. The ketoconazole analogs exhibited antifungal activity; however, no clear trends were observed in this series. Overall, the series exhibited less CYP3A4 inhibition than the parent compound, ketoconazole.