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Synthesis and structure–activity relationship studies of polysubstituted pyrimidines as inhibitors of immune-activated nitric oxide production

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Abstract

Based on the previous discovery of the inhibitory effect of the 5-substituted 2-amino-4,6-dichloropyrimidines on nitric oxide (NO) production in vitro, a series of novel pyrimidine derivatives, namely 4,6-dichloro-2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)methyleneamino]pyrimidines, 2,4-diamino-6-chloropyrimidines, and 2,4-diamino-6-(2-hydroxyethoxy)pyrimidines, were prepared bearing various substituents at the C-5 position on the pyrimidine, such as hydrogen, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, propargyl, allyl, butyl, sec-butyl, phenyl, benzyl, and fluorine. The intrinsic biological potential of the prepared compounds was characterized by effects on the in vitro production of immune-activated NO in mouse peritoneal cells. All 5-substituted 4,6-dichloro-2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)methyleneamino]pyrimidines strongly inhibited NO production. The IC50s were <5 µM in most cases. The highest inhibitory activity was observed for the 5-sec-butyl analog (IC50 = 2.57 µM), the lowest one for 5-unsubtituted compound (IC50 = 11.49 µM). With the exception of the 5-fluoro-4,6-dichloro-2-[(N,N-dimethylamino)methyleneamino] derivative, all other compounds were devoid of cytotoxic effects. The hitherto obtained data suggest that the NO-inhibitory activity depends on the presence of the 2-amino-4,6-dichloropyrimidine scaffold.

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Acknowledgments

The research was supported by Grant CZ: GA ČR: GA303/12/0172 from the Czech Science Foundation and by the Ministry of Interior of the Czech Republic (VG20102015046).

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Correspondence to Petr Jansa or Zdeněk Zídek.

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Antonín Holý—deceased.

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Jansa, P., Holý, A., Dračínský, M. et al. Synthesis and structure–activity relationship studies of polysubstituted pyrimidines as inhibitors of immune-activated nitric oxide production. Med Chem Res 24, 2154–2166 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00044-014-1285-5

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