The first examples of an optically active Birch reduced tertiary phosphine, viz. (R(P))-(cyclohexa-2,5-dienyl)(3-pentyl)phenylphosphine, and successful hydrophosphination of the related racemic ligand (±)-(cyclohexa-2,5-dienyl)(2-propyl)phenylphosphine with PHPh(2) in the presence of KOBu(t) in thf to give a 1,2-cyclohexenebis(tertiary phosphine), viz. (±)-1,2-C(6)H(8)(PPh(2))(PPhPr(i)), are described; as confirmed by crystal structure determinations of [SP-4-4-(S(P),S)]-chloro[(cyclohexa-2,5-dienyl)(3-pentyl)phenylphosphine][2-{1-(dimethylamino)ethyl}phenyl-C,N]palladium(II) and [SP-4-3-(±)]-dimethyl[(1-diphenylphosphino)(2-isopropylphenylphosphino)cyclohexene]platinum(II).

ABSTRACT:The emergence and spread of malaria parasites that are resistant to chloroquine (CQ) has been a disaster for world health. The antihistamine chlorpheniramine (CP) partially resensitizes CQ-resistant (CQR) parasites to CQ but possesses little intrinsic antiplasmodial activity. Mutations in the parasite's CQ resistance transporter (PfCRT) confer resistance to CQ by enabling the protein to transport the drug away from its site of action, and it is thought that resistance-reversers such as CP exert their effect by blocking this CQ transport activity. Here, a series of new structural analogues and homologues of CP have been synthesized. We show that these compounds (along with other in vitro CQ resistance-reversers) inhibit the transport of CQ via a resistanceconferring form of PfCRT expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes. Furthermore, the level of PfCRT-inhibition was found to correlate well with both the restoration of CQ accumulation and the level of CQ resensitization in CQR parasites.KEYWORDS: Malaria parasite, chloroquine resistance, chemosensitization, chlorpheniramine, PfCRT, Xenopus oocytes T he malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum has proven largely refractory to the vaccine approaches trialled to date and reliance on chemotherapy is under serious threat with the recent emergence of parasites that are resistant to the current mainstay of malaria treatment (the artemisinin-based combination therapies).1 As a result, malaria remains a global health problem; there are around 225 million clinical cases and over 1.2 million deaths each year, 2 and the disease also imposes considerable socio-economic burdens upon afflicted countries. Chloroquine (CQ, Figure 1A) was a cheap, safe, and efficacious treatment for the disease until the eventual emergence and spread of resistant parasites. Resistance to CQ is caused primarily by mutations in the P. falciparum CQ resistance transporter, PfCRT.3 Within the P. falciparum-infected erythrocyte, PfCRT is found in the membrane of the parasite's digestive vacuole 4 (DV; pH 5−5.5); the organelle in which CQ accumulates and exerts its antimalarial effect. Mutations in PfCRT that confer CQ resistance result in a marked reduction in the accumulation of CQ within the DV. Using the Xenopus laevis oocyte expression system, a CQ resistance-conferring form of PfCRT (PfCRT CQR ) was shown to transport CQ, whereas the wild-type form found in CQ-sensitive (CQS) parasites (PfCRT CQS ) lacked this ability. 5Mutations in PfCRT have been associated with decreases or increases in the parasite's susceptibility to other antimalarials, 6 and the transporter has been shown to be one of the key determinants of the parasite's response to a diverse set of novel antiplasmodial compounds. 7 Whether these effects are due to PfCRT-mediated drug efflux and/or the inhibition of the transporter's normal function (which is essential for the survival of the parasite, but currently unknown) remains unclear.8 A better understanding of the interactions between PfCRT CQR and its substrates and inhibitors ...