The 1,3-difunctionalization of unactivated alkenes is an under-explored transformation that leads to moieties that are otherwise challenging to prepare. Herein, we report a hypervalent iodine-mediated 1,3-difluorination of homoallylic (aryl) ethers to give unreported 1,3-difluoro-4-oxy groups with moderate to excellent diastereoselectivity. The transformation proceeds through a different mode of reactivity for 1,3-difunctionalization, in which a regioselective addition of fluoride opens a transiently formed oxonium intermediate to rearrange an alkyl chain. The optimized protocol is scalable and shown to proceed well with a variety of functional groups and substitution on the alkenyl chain, hence providing ready access to this fluorinated, conformationally controlled moiety.

β-Glucocerebrosidase (GBA/GCase) mutations leading to misfolded protein cause Gaucher's disease and are a major genetic risk factor for Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies. The identification of small molecule pharmacological chaperones that can stabilize the misfolded protein and increase delivery of degradation-prone mutant GCase to the lysosome is a strategy under active investigation. Here, we describe the first use of fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) to identify pharmacological chaperones of GCase. The fragment hits were identified by using X-ray crystallography and biophysical techniques. This work led to the discovery of a series of compounds that bind GCase with nM potency and positively modulate GCase activity in cells.

Miniaturised high-throughput experimentation (HTE) is widely employed in industrial and academic laboratories for rapid reaction optimisation using material-limited, multifactorial reaction condition screening. In fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD), common toolbox reactions such as the Suzuki-Miyaura and Buchwald-Hartwig cross couplings can be hampered by the fragment's intrinsic heteroatom-rich pharmacophore which is required for ligand-protein binding. At Astex, we are using microscale HTE to speed up reaction optimisation and prevent target down-prioritisation. By identifying catalyst/base/solvent combinations which tolerate unprotected heteroatoms we can rapidly optimise key cross-couplings and expedite route design by avoiding superfluous protecting group manipulations. However, HTE requires extensive upfront training, and this modern automated synthesis technique largely differs to the way organic chemists are traditionally trained. To make HTE accessible to all our synthetic chemists we have developed a semi-automated workflow enabled by pre-made 96-well screening kits, rapid analytical methods and in-house software development, which is empowering chemists at Astex to run HTE screens independently with minimal training.

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) has become an established method for the identification of efficient starting points for drug discovery programs. In recent years, electrophilic fragment screening has garnered increased attention from both academia and industry to identify novel covalent hits for tool compound or drug development against challenging drug targets. Herein, we describe the design and characterization of an acrylamide-focused electrophilic fragment library and screening campaign against extracellular signal-regulated kinase 2 (ERK2) using high-throughput protein crystallography as the primary hit-finding technology. Several fragments were found to have covalently modified the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding pocket Cys166 residue. From these hits, 22, a covalent ATP-competitive inhibitor with improved potency (ERK2 IC50 = 7.8 μM), was developed.

Optimization of electrostatic complementarity is an important strategy in structure-based drug discovery for improving the affinity of molecules against a specific protein target. In this Miniperspective we identify examples where deliberate optimization of protein-ligand electrostatic complementarity or intramolecular electrostatic interactions gave improvements in target affinity (up to 250-fold), physicochemical properties, in vitro properties, and off-target selectivity. We also look retrospectively at a series of factor Xa inhibitors that show an almost 8000-fold range in potency that can be correlated with the calculated electrostatic potential (ESP) surfaces. Recent developments using a graph-convolutional deep neural network to rapidly generate high quality ESP surfaces have the potential to make this useful tool more accessible for a wider audience within the field of medicinal chemistry.

Fragment-based ligand discovery was successfully applied to histone deacetylase HDAC2. In addition to the anticipated hydroxamic acid- and benzamide-based fragment screening hits, a low affinity (∼1 mM) α-amino-amide zinc binding fragment was identified, as well as fragments binding to other regions of the catalytic site. This alternative zinc-binding fragment was further optimized, guided by the structural information from protein-ligand complex X-ray structures, into a sub-μM, brain penetrant, HDAC2 inhibitor (17) capable of modulating histone acetylation levels in vivo.

Fragment-based drug discovery (FBDD) is a technique for identifying low molecular weight chemical starting points for drug discovery. Since its inception 20 years ago, FBDD has grown in popularity to the point where it is now an established technique in industry and academia. The approach involves the biophysical screening of proteins against collections of low molecular weight compounds (fragments). Although fragments bind to proteins with relatively low affinity, they form efficient, high quality binding interactions with the protein architecture as they have to overcome a significant entropy barrier to bind. Of the biophysical methods available for fragment screening, X-ray protein crystallography is one of the most sensitive and least prone to false positives. It also provides detailed structural information of the protein-fragment complex at the atomic level. Fragment-based screening using X-ray crystallography is therefore an efficient method for identifying binding hotspots on proteins, which can then be exploited by chemists and biologists for the discovery of new drugs. The use of FBDD is illustrated here with a recently published case study of a drug discovery programme targeting the challenging protein-protein interaction Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1: nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2.

Meeting Summary The 22nd annual symposium of the International Isotope Society's United Kingdom Group took place at the Møller Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge, UK, on Friday, 18 October 2013. The meeting was attended by 65 delegates from academia and industry; the life sciences; and chemical, radiochemical and scientific instrument suppliers. Delegates were welcomed by Dr Ken Lawrie (GlaxoSmithKline, UK, chair of the IIS UK group). The subsequent scientific programme consisted of oral and poster presentations on isotopic chemistry and applications of labelled compounds, or of chemistry with potential implications for isotopic synthesis. Both short-lived and long-lived isotopes were represented, as were stable isotopes. The symposium programme was divided into a morning session chaired by Dr Karl Cable (GlaxoSmithKline, UK) and afternoon sessions chaired by Mr Mike Chappelle (Quotient Biosciences, UK) and by Dr Nick Bushby (AstraZeneca, UK). The UK meeting concluded with remarks from Dr Ken Lawrie (GlaxoSmithKline, UK).

An efficient strategy for the total synthesis of (-)-blepharocalyxin D and an analogue is described. The key step involves an acid-mediated cascade process in which reaction of methyl 3,3-dimethoxypropanoate with gamma,delta-unsaturated alcohols possessing diastereotopic styrenyl groups gives trans-fused bicyclic lactones with the creation of two rings and four stereocenters in one pot.

trans-2,8-Dioxabicyclodecanes were prepared in high yield with the creation of up to three stereocenters in a single pot by the acid-mediated reaction of γ,δ-unsaturated alcohols with aldehydes (see scheme, Bn=benzyl). This versatile reaction enables the stereoselective introduction of substituents at the C3, C4, C7, and C9 positions of the bicyclic framework.