Utilising 'beyond rule of five' chemical space is becoming increasingly important in drug design, but is usually at odds with good oral absorption. The formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds in drug molecules is hypothesised to shield polarity facilitating improved membrane permeability and intestinal absorption. NMR based evidence for intramolecular hydrogen bonding in several 'beyond rule of five' oral drugs is described. Furthermore, the propensity for these drugs to form intramolecular hydrogen bonds could be predicted for through modelling the lowest energy conformation in the gas phase. The modulation of apparent lipophilicity through intramolecular hydrogen bonding in these molecules is supported by intrinsic cell permeability and intestinal absorption data in rat and human.

This paper describes the identification and optimization of a novel series of DFG-out binding p38 inhibitors as inhaled agents for the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Structure based drug design and "inhalation by design" principles have been applied to the optimization of the lead series exemplied by compound 1a. Analogues have been designed to be potent and selective for p38, with an emphasis on slow enzyme dissociation kinetics to deliver prolonged lung p38 inhibition. Pharmacokinetic properties were tuned with high intrinsic clearance and low oral bioavailability in mind, to minimize systemic exposure and reduce systemically driven adverse events. High CYP mediated clearance and glucuronidation were targeted to achieve high intrinsic clearance coupled with multiple routes of clearance to minimize drug-drug interactions. Furthermore, pharmaceutical properties such as stability, crystallinity, and solubility were considered to ensure compatibility with a dry powder inhaler. 1ab (PF-03715455) was subsequently identified as a clinical candidate from this series with efficacy and safety profiles confirming its potential as an inhaled agent for the treatment of COPD.

A series of acidic diaryl ether heterocyclic sulfonamides that are potent and subtype selective Na1.7 inhibitors is described. Optimization of early lead matter focused on removal of structural alerts, improving metabolic stability and reducing cytochrome P450 inhibition driven drug-drug interaction concerns to deliver the desired balance of preclinical in vitro properties. Concerns over nonmetabolic routes of clearance, variable clearance in preclinical species, and subsequent low confidence human pharmacokinetic predictions led to the decision to conduct a human microdose study to determine clinical pharmacokinetics. The design strategies and results from preclinical PK and clinical human microdose PK data are described leading to the discovery of the first subtype selective Na1.7 inhibitor clinical candidate PF-05089771 (34) which binds to a site in the voltage sensing domain.

Ring-closing metathesis was used to construct the strained 11-membered ring of obtusallenes II (and IV). Bromonium-ion induced transannular oxonium ion formation-fragmentation gave the macrocyclic carbon skeleton of obtusallene VII with a bromine atom at C-13 in line with a previously published hypothesis. An additional brominated [5.5.1]bicyclotridecane adduct that must arise from a bromonium-ion induced transannular oxonium ion formation-fragmentation could also be isolated, suggesting that this adduct represents the core of an as yet undiscovered natural product. An authentic sample of obtusallene V was studied by NMR spectroscopy and the position of the halogens at C-7 and C-13 were reassigned on the basis of a 13 C NMR chlorine-induced isotopic shift. This revised structure was subsequently confirmed by X-ray crystallography. These findings allow us to confidently conclude that the structures of obtusallenes VII and VI should also be reassigned.