Radioiodinated pharmaceuticals are convenient tracers for clinical and research investigations because of the relatively long half‐lives of radioactive iodine isotopes (i.e., 123I, 124I, and 131I) and the ease of their chemical insertion. Their application in radionuclide imaging and therapy may, however, be hampered by poor in vivo stability of the C–I bond. After an overview of the use of iodine in biology and nuclear medicine, we present here a survey of the catabolic pathways for iodinated xenobiotics, including their biodistribution, accumulation, and biostability. We summarize successful rational improvements in the biostability and conclude with general guidelines for the design of stable radioiodinated pharmaceuticals. It appears to be necessary to consider the whole molecule, rather than the radioiodinated fragment alone. Iodine radionuclides are generally retained in vivo on sp2 carbon atoms in iodoarenes and iodovinyl moieties, but not in iodinated heterocycles or on sp3 carbon atoms. Iodoarene substituents also have an influence, with increased in vivo deiodination in the cases of iodophenols and iodoanilines, whereas methoxylation and difluorination improve biostability.

Recently, the tryptophan-containing noncationizable opioid peptides emerged with atypical structure and unexpected in vivo activity. Herein, we describe analogs of the naturally occurring mixed κ/μ-ligand c[Phe-d-Pro-Phe-Trp] 1 (CJ-15,208). Receptor affinity, selectivity, and agonism/antagonism varied upon enlarging macrocycle size, giving the μ-agonist 9 or the δ-antagonist 10 characterized by low nanomolar affinity. In particular, the μ-agonist c[β-Ala-d-Pro-Phe-Trp] 9 was shown to elicit potent antinociception in a mouse model of visceral pain upon systemic administration.

The emergence of multidrug resistant bacteria has prioritized the development of new antibiotics. N-substituted pantothenamides, analogs of the natural compound pantetheine, were reported to target bacterial coenzyme A biosynthesis, but these compounds have never reached the clinic due to their instability in biological fluids. Plasma-stable pantothenamide analogs could overcome these issues. We first synthesized a number of bioisosteres of the prototypic pantothenamide N7-Pan. A compound with an inverted amide bond (CXP18.6-012) was found to provide plasma-stability with minimal loss of activity compared to the parent compound N7-Pan. Next, we synthesized inverted pantothenamides with a large variety of side chains. Among these we identified a number of novel stable inverted pantothenamides with selective activity against Gram-positive bacteria such as staphylococci and streptococci, at low micromolar concentrations. These data provide future direction for the development of pantothenamides with clinical potential.

Chiral dehydroamino acid building blocks are versatile starting materials for the preparation of optically active unusual amino acids and other compounds of pharmacological interest. Herein we disclose the expedient preparation of dehydroalanines (ΔAla) equipped with oxazolidin-2-one (Oxd) chiral auxiliaries, Ts-Oxd-ΔAla-OMe. These compounds have been obtained in high yields from dipeptides Ts-Ser/Thr/phenylSer-Ser-OMe by the one-pot cyclization-elimination reaction with N,N-disuccinimidyl carbonate and catalytic DIPEA. To test the efficacy of the chiral auxiliaries in controlling asymmetric transformations, the Friedel-Crafts alkylations of indoles carrying diverse substituents were performed in the presence of Lewis and Brønsted acids. The reactions proceeded with good to excellent diastereomeric ratios giving (S)- or (R)-tryptophan derivatives, isolated very conveniently by simple flash chromatography. To verify the utility of this approach, optically pure (S)-2-methyltryptophan and (S)-5-fluorotryptophan were obtained and utilized to prepare analogues of endogenous opioid peptide endomorphin-1, H-Tyr-Pro-Trp-PheNH2.

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