John H. Ryan

The reactions of pyrethrin I, cinerin I and jasmolin I with sodium hydroxide in ethanol afforded an approximately 1:1 ratio of two respective cyclopentadienone dimers, isolated in good yield. A combination of one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopic studies allowed determination of the structure and stereochemistry of the dimers. The dimers are formed by cycloaddition reactions of the less substituted alkene of the cyclopentadienone, and by regioisomeric endo transition states. Density functional theory calculations were in accord with the experimental findings showing the products formed by ambimodal transition states. One such transition state led to two initial products with the less stable product undergoing facile conversion to the other more stable, experimentally observed product. These studies clarify the structures of the altered pyrethrolone reported by Staudinger and Ruzicka in 1924.

To achieve malaria eradication, new preventative agents that act differently to front-line treatment drugs are needed. To identify potential chemoprevention starting points we screened a sub-set of the CSIRO Australia Compound Collection for compounds with slow-action in vitro activity against Plasmodium falciparum . This work identified N , N -dialkyl-5-alkylsulfonyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-amines as a new antiplas-modial chemotype (e.g., 1 96 h IC ₅₀ 550 nM) with a different action to delayed-death slow-action drugs. Structure activity relationship analysis of analogues identified multiple compounds with potent and selective in vitro activity against drug-sensitive and multi-drug resistant Plasmodium parasites (e.g., 31 and 32 96 h IC ₅₀ 2,500). However subsequent studies in mice with lead compound 1 , which had the best microsomal stability of the compounds assessed, demonstrated rapid clearance (T _1/2 < 1.6 h) and poor oral in vivo efficacy. This indicates that improvements in the pharmacokinetic profile of N , N -dialkyl-5-alkylsulfonyl-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-amines would be needed for the development of this chemotype for malaria chemoprophylaxis.

On an annual basis the flagellate protozoan, Giardia duodenalis, is responsible for an estimated one billion human infections of which approximately two hundred million cause disease. However, the treatment of Giardia infections is reliant on a small group of chemotherapeutic classes that have a broad spectrum of antimicrobial activity and increasing treatment failure rates. To improve this situation, we need new drugs. In this study we screened the Compounds Australia Scaffolds Library for compounds with potent and selective activity against these parasites. Unlike previous drug discovery efforts that have focused on drug repurposing, this library is comprised of commercially available synthetic compounds arranged into lead-like scaffolds to facilitate structure activity relationship assessments and de novo drug discovery. A screen of 2451 compounds in this library identified 40 hits (>50% inhibitory activity at 10 µM, over 48 h). Secondary testing identified three compounds with IC₅₀ values 50-fold selectivity for parasites over mammalian cells and a hit series, CL9406, comprising compounds with potent (lowest IC₅₀ 180 nM) and selective activity for Giardia parasites. The most promising compound in this series, SN00797640, displayed selective activity against assemblage A, B, and metronidazole resistant parasites which was parasiticidal (minimum lethal concentration 625 nM) and synergistic with albendazole. SN00797640 was well-tolerated when administered to mice at doses of 50 mg/kg daily for three days paving the way for pre-clinical in vivo activity assessment.

Atovaquone-proguanil (Malarone®) is used for malaria prophylaxis and treatment. While the cytochrome bc1-inhibitor atovaquone has potent activity, proguanil’s action is attributed to its cyclization-metabolite, cycloguanil. Evidence suggests that proguanil has limited intrinsic activity, associated with mitochondrial-function. Here we demonstrate that proguanil, and cyclization-blocked analogue tBuPG, have potent, but slow-acting, in vitro anti-plasmodial activity. Activity is folate-metabolism and isoprenoid biosynthesis-independent. In yeast dihydroorotate dehydrogenase-expressing parasites, proguanil and tBuPG slow-action remains, while bc1-inhibitor activity switches from comparatively fast to slow-acting. Like proguanil, tBuPG has activity againstP. bergheiliver-stage parasites. Both analogues act synergistically with bc1-inhibitors against blood-stages in vitro, however cycloguanil antagonizes activity. Together, these data suggest that proguanil is a potent slow-acting anti-plasmodial agent, that bc1 is essential to parasite survival independent of dihydroorotate dehydrogenase-activity, that Malarone® is a triple-drug combination that includes antagonistic partners and that a cyclization-blocked proguanil may be a superior combination partner for bc1-inhibitors in vivo.

A study of the reactivity of a non-stabilised azomethine ylide, derived from N-(methoxymethyl)-N-(trimethylsilylmethyl)benzylamine, with nitro-substituted isatoic anhydrides was undertaken. N-Methyl-4-nitroisatoic anhydride underwent a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction exclusively at the isatoic anhydride C1-carbonyl group, followed by decarboxylative rearrangement to yield a benzo-1,3-diazepin-5-one derivative. In contrast, N-methyl-5-nitroisatoic anhydride underwent competing cycloaddition processes to the isatoic anhydride C1-carbonyl group and to the nitro-substituted aromatic ring. The dearomative addition reaction resulted in the formation of novel tetracyclic products.