In this letter, we describe the design, synthesis, and structure−activity relationship of 5-anilinopyrazolo [1,5-a]pyrimidine inhibitors of CK2 kinase. Property-based optimization of early leads using the 7-oxetan-3-yl amino group led to a series of matched molecular pairs with lower lipophilicity, decreased affinity for human plasma proteins, and reduced binding to the hERG ion channel. Agents in this study were shown to modulate pAKT S129 , a direct substrate of CK2, in vitro and in vivo, and exhibited tumor growth inhibition when administered orally in a murine DLD-1 xenograft. KEYWORDS: CK2 kinase, pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine, matched molecular pair, oxetane T he serine/threonine protein kinase CK2, a tetrameric complex containing two catalytic (α or α′) and two regulatory (β) subunits, controls cell growth, proliferation, and evasion of apoptosis by phosphorylation of a range of substrates in critical cellular signaling pathways including PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase)/AKT (protein kinase B), NFκB (nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells) and Wnt (wingless type MMTV integration site family).1−3 Overexpression of the CK2α subunit correlates with tumor aggressiveness and disease severity in certain cancers, while compensatory increases in CK2α′ levels have been observed in response to RNAi treatment in mice.4,5 Several academic and industrial research groups have been actively engaged in developing small molecule inhibitors of CK2 to provide further pharmacological validation of the compelling in vitro and in vivo data amassed to date. 6 The recent discovery of CX-4945, a selective, orally available inhibitor of CK2 by researchers from Cylene, represents an important first step in evaluating the clinical potential of this novel target in man. 7 We have recently described the design of a series of conformationally constrained inhibitors of CK2 containing the pyrazolo[1,5-a]pyrimidine nucleus.8 Members of this series of compounds exhibited potent inhibition of the enzyme, possessed a high degree of kinase selectivity, and depleted cellular levels of pAKT S129 , a direct substrate of CK2 believed to hyperactivate the AKT pathway.9 Although our attempts to enhance both cellular potency and physical properties in this series were unsuccessful, these studies resulted in an understanding of the structure−property relationships within the scaffold and provided additional insights into ligand−receptor binding. In particular, we found that N-methylation of the acetamide of 1a, to give ring-constrained analogue 1b, preserved enzymatic and cellular activity. In subsequent designs, we proposed to release the constraint in 1b and introduce a new conformational constraint, exemplified by indoline 2, that would enforce the crystallographically observed cisoid conformation of the acetamide in 1 (Figure 1). Compound 2 is a potent inhibitor