Asthma
patients in resource-poor countries cannot obtain adequate
basic asthma medications because most asthma medications are supplied
as inhalants. An alternative approach is to create oral antiasthmatic
drugs with high β2/β1-selectivity,
which should reduce treatment costs. In this study, we designed a
cohort of compounds 1 using 2-(4-amino-3-chloro-5-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl)-2-(tert-butylamino)ethan-1-ol hydrogen chloride (1a) as the lead compound with an aim to expand the library of compounds
possessing the 2-amino-2-phenylethanol scaffold. Structure–activity
relationship studies on these compounds revealed that compounds created
showed remarkable β2 selectivity compared to isoproterenol
and gave additional insights on the rational design of β2-adrenoceptor agonists. Moreover, 1a was found
as the best candidate compound showing the greatest potential for
drug development. Cell-based assays showed that 1a was
about 10 times more selective than salbutamol toward the β2-adrenoceptor. Moreover, 1a exhibited good oral
bioavailability and low acute oral toxicity. These data reveal 1a as an oral antiasthmatic agent.