Structure-based design of potent non-peptide MDM2 inhibitors

A successful structure-based design of a class of non-peptide small-molecule MDM2 inhibitors targeting the p53-MDM2 protein-protein interaction is reported. The most potent compound 1d binds to MDM2 protein with a Ki value of 86 nM and is 18 times more potent than a natural p53 peptide (residues 16-27). Compound 1d is potent in inhibition of cell growth in LNCaP prostate cancer cells with wild-type p53 and shows only a weak activity in PC-3 prostate cancer cells with a deleted p53. Importantly, 1d has a minimal toxicity to normal prostate epithelial cells. Our studies provide a convincing example that structure-based strategy can be employed to design highly potent, non-peptide, cell-permeable, small-molecule inhibitors to target protein-protein interaction, which remains a very challenging area in chemical biology and drug design.     

Use of polymer-supported dialkylphosphinobiphenyl ligands for palladium-catalyzed amination and Suzuki reactions

The preparations of polymer-supported dialkylphosphinobiphenyl ligands (3) are reported. A palladium catalyst based on ligand 3a is active for amination and Suzuki reactions using unactivated aryl iodides, bromides, or chlorides. Filtration of the catalyst from the reaction mixture allows for simplified product isolation via an aqueous workup. The resin-bound catalyst can be recycled without additional palladium in both the amination and Suzuki reactions.