Discovery of new 7-substituted-4-imidazolylmethyl coumarins and 4'-substituted-2-imidazolyl acetophenones open analogues as potent and selective inhibitors of steroid-11β-hydroxylase.

Diseases triggered by an abnormally high level of cortisol (hypercortisolism), such as the Cushing's and metabolic syndromes, could be successfully tackled by inhibitors of CYP11B1, a steroidal cytochrome P450 enzyme that catalyzes the last hydroxylation step of the cortisol biosynthesis. Structural optimization of 7-(benzyloxy)-4-(1H-imidazol-1-ylmethyl)-2H-chromen-2-one 2, a selective aromatase inhibitor, afforded the 4-(1H-imidazol-1-ylmethyl)-7-{[3-(trifluoromethoxy)benzyl]oxy}-2H-chromen-2-one 7, with improved inhibitory potency at human CYP11B1 (IC50 = 5 nM) and an enhanced selectivity over human CYP11B2 (SIB = 25) compared to lead compound 2 (IC50 = 72 nM, SIB = 4.0) and metyrapone (IC50 = 15 nM, SIB = 4.8), a non-selective drug used in the therapy of the Cushing's syndrome. Structure-activity relationship studies allowed the design and optimization of a novel series of potent and selective compounds, that can be regarded as open analogues of 2H-chromen-2-one derivatives. Compound 23, 2-(1H-imidazol-1-yl)-1-(4-{[3(trifluoromethoxy)benzyl]oxy}phenyl) ethanone, was the most interesting inhibitor of the series displaying a high potency at CYP11B1 (IC50 = 15 nM), increased selectivities over CYP11B2 (SIB = 33), CYP19 (SIB = 390) and CYP17 (5% inhibition at 2.5 μM concentration).