Design and synthesis of 3-pyridylacetamide derivatives as dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-4) inhibitors targeting a bidentate interaction with Arg125

We have previously discovered nicotinic acid derivative 1 as a structurally novel dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-4) inhibitor. In this study, we obtained the X-ray co-crystal structure between nicotinic acid derivative 1 and DPP-4. From these X-ray co-crystallography results, to achieve more potent inhibitory activity, we targeted Arg125 as a potential amino acid residue because it was located near the pyridine core, and some known DPP-4 inhibitors were reported to interact with this residue. We hypothesized that the guanidino group of Arg125 could interact with two hydrogen-bond acceptors in a bidentate manner. Therefore, we designed a series of 3-pyridylacetamide derivatives possessing an additional hydrogen-bond acceptor that could have the desired bidentate interaction with Arg125. We discovered the dihydrochloride of 1-{[5-(aminomethyl)-2-methyl-4-(4-methylphenyl)-6-(2-methylpropyl)pyridin-3-yl]acetyl}-l-prolinamide (13j) to be a potent and selective DPP-4 inhibitor that could interact with the guanidino group of Arg125 in a unique bidentate manner.     

Preparation of 1-C-glycosyl aldehydes by reductive hydrolysis

Reductive hydrolysis of various protected glycosyl cyanides was carried out using DIBAL-H to form aldimine alane intermediates which were then hydrolyzed under mildly acidic condition to provide the corresponding aldehyde derivatives. While 1-C-formyl glycal and 2-deoxy glycosyl derivatives were stable during isolation and storage 1-C-glycosyl formaldehydes in the gluco, galacto and manno series were sensitive and decomposition occurred by 2-alkyloxy elimination. A one-pot method using N,N′-diphenylethylenediamine to trap these aldehydes in stable form was developed. Reductive hydrolysis of glycosyl cyanides offers valuable aldehyde building blocks in a convenient way which can be applied in the synthesis of complex C-glycosides.     

Regioselective ring opening of benzylidene acetal protecting group(s) of hexopyranoside derivatives by DIBAL-H

The reductive ring-opening reaction of benzylidene-protected glucosides and mannosides such as methyl 2,3-di-O-benzyl-4,6-O-benzylidene-alpha-d-glucoside (1) and methyl 2,3-di-O-benzyl-4,6-O-benzylidene-alpha-d-mannoside (4) by using a toluene stock solution of DIBAL-H and a dichloromethane stock solution of DIBAL-H gives mainly or selectively the corresponding 2,3,4-tri-O-benzyl derivatives (2, 5) and 2,3,6-tri-O-benzyl derivatives (3, 6), respectively, although that of methyl 2,3-di-O-benzyl-4,6-O-benzylidene-alpha-d-galactoside (7) gives methyl 2,3,6-tri-O-benzyl-alpha-d-galactoside (9) selectively irrespective of the solvent of the stock solution of DIBAL-H. Similarly, the reaction of the exo-isomer of methyl 2,3:4,6-di-O-benzylidene-alpha-d-mannopyranosides (exo-10) with a toluene stock solution and dichloromethane stock solutions of DIBAL-H selectively gives methyl 3-O-benzyl-4,6-O-benzylidene-alpha-d-mannoside (12) and methyl 2-O-benzyl-4,6-O-benzylidene-alpha-d-mannoside (11), respectively, although that of endo-10 selectively affords 11, irrespective of the solvent of the stock solution of DIBAL-H.