Journal of medicinal chemistry
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Sixteen novel potential prodrugs derived from phenol or aniline mustards and their 16 corresponding drugs with ring substitution and/or different alkylating functionalities were designed. The [[[4-]bis(2-bromoethyl)-(1a), [[[4-[bis(2-iodoethyl)-(1b), and [[[4-[(2-chloroethyl)-[2-(mesyloxy)ethyl]amino]phenyl]oxy] carbonyl]-L-glutamic acids (1c), their [[[2- and 3-substituted-4-[bis(2-chloroethyl)amino]phenyl]oxy]carbonyl]-L- glutamic acids (1e-1), and the [[3-substituted-4-[bis(2-chloroethyl)amino]phenyl]carbamoyl]-L- glutamic acids (1o-r) were synthesized. They are bifunctional alkylating agents in which the activating effect of the phenolic hydroxyl or amino function is masked through an oxycarbonyl or a carbamoyl bond to a glutamic acid. ⋯ The ability of the potential prodrugs to act as substrates for CPG2 was determined (kinetic parameters KM and kcat), and the chemical stability was measured for all the compounds. The unsubstituted phenols with different alkylating functionalities (1a-c) proved to have the highest ratio of the substrates kcat:KM. From these studies [[[4-[bis(2-iodoethyl)amino]phenyl]oxy]carbonyl]-L-glutamic acid (1b) emerges as a new ADEPT clinical trial candidate due to its physicochemical and biological characteristics.