Synthesis and evaluation of the bioactivity of simplified analogs of the seco-pseudopterosins; progress toward determining a pharmacophore

The pseudopterosins are marine natural products that display significant anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties. We describe the synthesis of six structural analogs of the seco-pseudopterosin-like core that are devoid of all but one of the stereocenters found in the carbocyclic core of the natural products. Our targets were selected in an attempt to identify the minimal pharmacophore for the pseudopterosins and their seco analogs. A deliberate effort was made to utilize a conservative synthetic approach based upon the use of well-established reactions, which enabled us to develop routes that proved to be efficient, practical, and easy to implement. The results of several bioassays, including an assessment of the ability to inhibit phagocytosis and to competitively bind to the adenosine receptor A_2A, demonstrate that greatly simplified structural analogs of the pseudopterosins and their seco forms are capable of maintaining several of the important bioactivities that characterize the natural products, and do so with comparable efficacy. Those systems bearing two rather than one oxygen atom appended directly to the aromatic ring are the more effective binding agents. This observation may provide a significant clue regarding the key structural features of the minimal pharmacophore.