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Aryloxy triester phosphoramidate prodrugs of the monophosphate derivatives of isopentenyl pyrophosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP) were synthesized as lipophilic derivatives that can improve cell uptake. Despite the structural similarity of IPP and DMAPP, it was noted that their phosphoramidate prodrugs exhibited distinct stability profiles in aqueous environments, which we show is due to the position of the allyl bond in the backbones of the IPP and DMAPP monophosphates. As the IPP monophosphate aryloxy triester phosphoramidates showed favorable stability, they were subsequently investigated for their ability to activate Vγ9/Vδ2 T cells and they showed promising activation of this subset of T cells. Together, these findings represent the first report of IPP and DMAPP monophosphate prodrugs and the ability of IPP aryloxy triester phosphoramidate prodrugs to activate Vγ9/Vδ2 T cells highlighting their potential as possible immunotherapeutics., (© 2021 The Authors. ChemMedChem published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Phosphoramidates are becoming increasingly recognized as molecular targets for therapeutic development. Their biological functions are significantly influenced by their inherent properties such as reactivity, as well as the P-N backbone which allows for structural diversity. In this study we report the synthesis of novel carbohydrate-based phosphoramidate derivatives via the Staudinger-phosphite reaction; along with an evaluation of their adjuvant activity in combination with popular antibiotics. Our targets involved variation in both the sugar residue as well as the identity of the phosphoramidate. Moderate to excellent yields of these derivatives were obtained. Notable adjuvant activity was observed with the halogenated phosphoramidates. For the fluorinated glucose derivative in particular, a remarkable 32-fold decrease in the MIC of Ampicillin was obtained against Methicillin-resistant S. aureus., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

A series of N-benzylated phosphoramidate esters, containing a 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl Mg 2+ -chelating group, has been synthesised in five steps as analogues of fosmidomycin, a Plasmodium falciparum 1-deoxy-1-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductoisomerase (PfDXR) inhibitor. The 3,4-dihydroxyphenyl group effectively replaces the Mg 2+ -chelating hydroxamic acid group in fosmidomycin. The compounds showed very encouraging anti-parasitic activity with IC 50 values of 5.6-16.4 µM against Plasmodium falciparum parasites and IC 50 values of 5.2 - 10.2 µM against Trypanosoma brucei brucei (T.b.brucei). Data obtained from in silico docking of the ligands in the PfDXR receptor cavity (3AU9) 5 support their potential as PfDXR inhibitors., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

A new class of phosphoramidate derivatives of 6-fluoro-3-(piperidin-4-yl)benzo[ d ]isoxazole were synthesized in good to excellent yields (78-96%) by an in situ , three-step process. All the synthesized molecules were evaluated for anti-bacterial and anti-fungal activities using in vitro and in silico methods. The results revealed that the compounds 4b , 4d , 4h , 4i , and 4j exhibited the most promising anti-bacterial activity against S. aureus , B. subtilis , K. pneumoniae , S. typhi and P. mirabilis and anti-fungal activity against A. niger and A. flavus when compared with the standard drugs Norfloxacin and Nystatin at concentrations of 25, 50, 75 and 100 µg/mL. The rest of the title compounds have shown moderate activity against all the bacterial and fungal strains. Molecular docking studies revealed that the synthesized compounds have exhibited significant binding modes with high dock scores ranging from -7.2 to -9.5 against 3V2B protein when compared with the standard drugs Norfloxacin (-5.8) and Nystatin (-6.6) respectively. Hence, it is suggested that the synthesized phosphoramidate derivatives of 6-fluoro-3-(piperidin-4-yl)benzo[ d ]isoxazole will stand as the promising antimicrobial drug candidates in future.

This review covers the main synthetic routes to and the corresponding mechanisms of phosphoramidate formation. The synthetic routes can be separated into six categories: salt elimination, oxidative cross-coupling, azide, reduction, hydrophosphinylation, and phosphoramidate-aldehyde-dienophile (PAD). Examples of some important compounds synthesized through these routes are provided. As an important class of organophosphorus compounds, the applications of phosphoramidate compounds, are also briefly introduced.

Synthetic pathways have been developed to access a series of N-benzylated phosphoramidic acid derivatives as novel, achiral analogues of the established Plasmodium falciparum 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate reductase (PfDXR) enzyme inhibitor, FR900098. Bioassays of the targeted compounds and their synthetic precursors have revealed minimal antimalarial activity but encouraging anti-trypanosomal activity - in one case with an IC 50 value of 5.4 µM against Trypanosoma brucei, the parasite responsible for Nagana (African cattle sleeping sickness). The results of relevant in silico modelling and docking studies undertaken in the design and evaluation of these compounds are discussed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The specific targeting of protein-protein interactions by phosphoserine-containing small molecules has been scarce due to the dephosphorylation of phosphoserine and its charged nature at physiological pH, which hinder its uptake into cells. To address these issues, we herein report the synthesis of phosphoserine aryloxy triester phosphoramidates as phosphoserine prodrugs that are enzymatically metabolized to release phosphoserine. This phosphoserine-masking approach was applied to a phosphoserine-containing inhibitor of 14-3-3 dimerization, and the generated prodrugs exhibited improved pharmacological activity. Collectively, this provided a proof of concept that the masking of phosphoserine with biocleavable aryloxy triester phosphoramidate masking groups is a viable intracellular delivery system for phosphoserine-containing molecules. Ultimately, this will facilitate the discovery of phosphoserine-containing small-molecule therapeutics., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

All known polymerases copy genetic material by catalyzing phosphodiester bond formation. This highly conserved activity proceeds by a common mechanism, such that incorporated nucleoside analogs terminate chain elongation if the resulting primer strand lacks a terminal hydroxyl group. Even conservatively substituted 3'-amino nucleotides generally act as chain terminators, and no enzymatic pathway for their polymerization has yet been found. Although 3'-amino nucleotides can be chemically coupled to yield stable oligonucleotides containing N3'→P5' phosphoramidate (NP) bonds, no such internucleotide linkages are known to occur in nature. Here, we report that 3'-amino terminated primers are, in fact, slowly extended by the DNA polymerase from B. stearothermophilus in a template-directed manner. When its cofactor is Ca 2+ rather than Mg 2+ , the reaction is fivefold faster, permitting multiple turnover NP bond formation to yield NP-DNA strands from the corresponding 3'-amino-2',3'-dideoxynucleoside 5'-triphosphates. A single active site mutation further enhances the rate of NP-DNA synthesis by an additional 21-fold. We show that DNA-dependent NP-DNA polymerase activity depends on conserved active site residues and propose a likely mechanism for this activity based on a series of crystal structures of bound complexes. Our results significantly broaden the catalytic scope of polymerase activity and suggest the feasibility of a genetic transition between native nucleic acids and NP-DNA., Competing Interests: Competing interest statement: The authors have filed for a patent related to this work., (Copyright © 2020 the Author(s). Published by PNAS.)

Aryl phosphoramidate prodrugs of fosfoxacin derivatives 15a-b and 8a-b were synthesized and investigated for their ability to target bacteria. No growth inhibition was observed neither for Mycobacterium smegmatis nor for Escherichia coli on solid medium, demonstrating the absence of release of the active compounds in the bacterial cells. Investigation of the stability of the prodrugs and their multienzymatic cleavage in abiotic and biotic conditions showed that the use of aryl phosphoramidate prodrug approach to deliver non-nucleotides compounds is not obvious and might not be appropriate for an antimicrobial drug., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

We have designed a new type of AZT and ddU phosphoramidate diesters containing various combinations of 2-, 3-, 4-aminopyridine and 2-, 3-, 4-hydroxypyridine moieties attached to the phosphorus center, as potential anti-HIV pronucleotides. Depending on the pK a values of the aminopyridines and the hydroxypyridines used, alternative synthetic strategies based on H-phosphonate chemistry were developed for their preparation. Synthetic aspects of these transformations and the biological activity of the synthesized compounds are discussed., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

2'-Fluoro-6'-methylene-carbocyclic adenosine (FMCA, 12) and its phosphoramidate prodrug (FMCAP, 14) have been proven as a potential anti-HBV agent against both adefovir-resistant as well as lamivudine-resistant double (rtL180M/rtM204V) mutants. Furthermore, in vitro, these agents have demonstrated significant activity against lamivudine/entecavir triple mutants (L180M + S202G + M204V). These preliminary results encourage us for further biological evaluation of FMCA and FMCAP to develop as a potential clinical candidate as an anti-HBV agent, which may overcome the problem of drug resistance in HBV therapy. To support the preclinical exploration, a scalable synthesis of this molecule was needed. In this communication, a practical and scalable synthesis of FMCA, and its prodrug, is reported via ketone 1. The selective opening of the isopropylidene group of 2 led to compound 3. Protection of the allylic hydroxyl group of 3, followed by fluorination and deprotection, afforded the key intermediate 10, which was condensed with a Boc-protected adenine, followed by deprotection, furnished the target nucleoside FMCA (12) in high yield. Further coupling of phosphorochloridate of L-alanine isopropyl ester (13) with FMCA gave its phosphoramidate prodrug FMCAP (14) in good yield.

The O-methyl phosphoramidate (MeOPN) motif is a non-stoichiometric modification of capsular polysaccharides (CPS) in ≈70 % of all Campylobacter jejuni strains. Infections by C. jejuni lead to food-borne illnesses and the CPS they produce are key virulence factors. The MeOPN phosphorus atom in these CPS is stereogenic and is found as a single stereoisomer. However, to date, the absolute stereochemistry at this atom has been undefined. We report the synthesis of the three repeating units found in C. jejuni 81-176 CPS; one of these possesses a MeOPN group. In the course of these studies we established that the stereochemistry of the phosphorus atom in this MeOPN group is R. These studies represent the first unequivocal proof of stereochemistry of this group in any C. jejuni CPS. The compounds produced are anticipated to be useful tools in investigations targeting the function and biosynthesis of this structurally-interesting modification, which so far has only been identified in campylobacter., (© 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

The aryloxy triester phosphoramidate prodrug approach has been used with success in drug discovery. Herein, we describe the first application of this prodrug technology to the monophosphate derivative of the phosphoantigen HMBPP and one of its analogues. Some of these prodrugs exhibited specific and potent activation of Vγ9/Vδ2 T-cells, which were then able to lyse bladder cancer cells in vitro. This work highlights the promise of this prodrug technology in the discovery of novel immunotherapeutics.

The catalytic stereoselective synthesis of compounds with chiral phosphorus centers remains an unsolved problem. State-of-the-art methods rely on resolution or stoichiometric chiral auxiliaries. Phosphoramidate prodrugs are a critical component of pronucleotide (ProTide) therapies used in the treatment of viral disease and cancer. Here we describe the development of a catalytic stereoselective method for the installation of phosphorus-stereogenic phosphoramidates to nucleosides through a dynamic stereoselective process. Detailed mechanistic studies and computational modeling led to the rational design of a multifunctional catalyst that enables stereoselectivity as high as 99:1., (Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.)

A series of phosphoramidate-based prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) inhibitors of increasing lipophilicity were synthesized (4, 5, and 6), and their fluorine-18 analogs were evaluated for use as positron emission tomography (PET) imaging agents for prostate cancer. To gain insight into their modes of binding, they were also cocrystallized with the extracellular domain of PSMA. All analogs exhibited irreversible binding to PSMA with IC50 values ranging from 0.4 to 1.3 nM. In vitro assays showed binding and rapid internalization (80-95%, 2 h) of the radiolabeled ligands in PSMA(+) cells. In vivo distribution demonstrated significant uptake in CWR22Rv1 (PSMA(+)) tumor, with tumor to blood ratios of 25.6:1, 63.6:1, and 69.6:1 for [(18)F]4, [(18)F]5, and [(18)F]6, respectively, at 2 h postinjection. Installation of aminohexanoic acid (AH) linkers in the phosphoramidate scaffold improved their PSMA binding and inhibition and was critical for achieving suitable in vivo imaging properties, positioning [(18)F]5 and [(18)F]6 as favorable candidates for future prostate cancer imaging clinical trials.

Two series of novel 4-chlorophenyl N-alkyl phosphoramidates of 3'-O-(t-butoxycarbonyl)-5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (3'-BOC-FdU) (9a-9j) and 5-fluoro-2'-deoxyuridine (FdU) (10a-10j) were synthesized by means of phosphorylation of 3'-BOC-FdU (4) with 4-chlorophenyl phosphoroditriazolide (7), followed by a reaction with the appropriate amine. Phosphoramidates 9a-9j were converted to the corresponding 10a-10j by removal of the 3'-t-butoxycarbonyl protecting group (BOC) under acidic conditions. The synthesized phosphoramidates 9a-9j and 10a-10j were evaluated for their cytotoxic activity in five human cancer cell lines: cervical (HeLa), nasopharyngeal (KB), breast (MCF-7), liver (HepG2), osteosarcoma (143B) and normal human dermal fibroblast cell line (HDF) using the sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay. Two phosphoramidates 9b and 9j with the N-ethyl and N-(methoxy-(S)-alaninyl) substituents, respectively, displayed remarkable activity in all the investigated cancer cells, and the activity was considerably higher than that of the parent nucleoside 4 and FdU. Among phosphoramidates 10a-10j compound 10c with the N-(2,2,2-trifluoroethyl) substituent showed the highest activity. Phosphoramidate 10c was more active than the FdU in all the cancer cell lines tested., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Six new cationic bolaamphiphiles (also called bipolar amphiphiles, bolaform amphiphiles, or bolalipids) were readily prepared by a thiol-ene click reaction that engaged a mercapto-alcohol (mercapto-ethanol or mercapto-hexanol) and a cationic based lipophosphoramidate. The cationic lipophosphoramidates contain two lipid chains that end in an alkene group and a selected cationic polar head group (trimethylammonium, dimethyl hydroxyethyl ammonium, or methylimidazolium). These compounds were formulated in water (with or without DOPE as a colipid) to produce supramolecular aggregates. These aggregates, before (i.e. bolasomes) and after (i.e. bolaplexes) mixing with plasmid DNA (pDNA) at various charge ratios, were characterized with regard to their sizes and zeta potentials. In the case of bolasomes, the suspensions were unstable since precipitation occurred after only a few hours at room temperature. On the other hand, bolaplex formulations exhibited clearly a better colloidal stability. Then, the gene delivery properties of the cationic bolasomes were investigated using two human-derived epithelial cell lines (A549 and 16HBE). Compared to the commercially available lipofection reagent (Lipofectamine), most of the cationic bolaamphiphiles were able to efficiently transfect these cells when they were formulated with DOPE in a 1 : 1 molar ratio. We report herein that bolaamphiphiles possessing a trimethylammonium or a dimethyl hydroxyethyl ammonium head group were the most efficient in terms of transfection efficiency while exhibiting no significant cytotoxicity.

A series of novel phosphoramidate derivatives of coumarin have been designed and synthesized as chitin synthase (CHS) inhibitors. All the synthesized compounds have been screened for their chitin synthase inhibition activity and antimicrobial activity in vitro. The bioactive assay manifested that most of the target compounds exhibited good efficacy against CHS and a variety of clinically important fungal pathogens. In particular, compound 7t with IC50 of 0.08 mM against CHS displayed stronger efficiency than the reference Polyoxin B with IC50 of 0.16 mM. In addition, the apparent Ki values of compound 7t was 0.096 mM while the Km of Chitin synthase prepared from Candida tropicalis was 3.86 mM for UDP-N-acetylglucosamine, and the result of the Ki showed that the compounds was a non-competitive inhibitor of the CHS. As far as the antifungal activity is concerned, compounds 7o, 7r and 7t were highly active against Aspergillus flavus with MIC values in the range of 1 μg/mL to 2 μg/Ml while the results of antibacterial screening showed that these compounds have negligible actions to the tested bacteria. These results indicated that the design of these compounds as antifungal agents was rational., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.)

A facile and novel synthetic route to MC-1220 was achieved by condensation of 4,6-dichloro-N,N-5-trimethylpyrimidin-2-amine (1) with the sodium salt of 2,6-difluorophenylacetonitrile, followed by methylation and strong acidic hydrolysis. The prodrugs of MC-1220 were synthesized by reaction of chlorophosphoramidate derivatives (7a-e) or α-acetobromoglucose with the sodium salt of MC-1220. The stability and anti-HIV-1 activity of phosphoramidate prodrugs turned out to be comparable to those of the parent drug MC-1220.

Membrane-type I matrix metalloproteinases (MT1-MMP) is an enzyme critical to the remodeling and homeostasis of extracellular matrix, and when over expressed it contributes to metastasis and cancer cell progression. Because of its role and implication as a biomarker that is upregulated in various cancers, MT1-MMP has become an attractive target for drug discovery. A small pilot library of peptidomimetics containing a phosphoramidate core as a zinc-binding group was synthesized and tested for inhibitory potency against MT1-MMP. From this library, a novel two residue peptidomimetic scaffold was identified that confers potency against MT1-MMP at submicromolar concentrations. The results of this study confirm that for this scaffold, valine is favored as a P1 residue and leucine in the P1' position. Furthermore, steric tolerance was observed for the N-terminus, thus implicating that a second-generation library could be constructed to extend the scaffold to P2 without concomitant loss of affinity within the MT1-MMP catalytic domain.

Inhibitors targeting human glutamate carboxypeptidase II (GCPII) typically consist of a P1' glutamate-derived binding module, which warrants the high affinity and specificity, linked to an effector function that is positioned within the entrance funnel of the enzyme. Here we present a comprehensive structural and computational study aimed at dissecting the importance of the effector function for GCPII binding and affinity. To this end we determined crystal structures of human GCPII in complex with a series of phosphoramidate-based inhibitors harboring effector functions of diverse physicochemical characteristics. Our data show that higher binding affinities of phosphoramidates, compared to matching phosphonates, are linked to the presence of additional hydrogen bonds between Glu424 and Gly518 of the enzyme and the amide group of the phosphoramidate. While the positioning of the P1' glutamate-derived module within the S1' pocket of GCPII is invariant, interaction interfaces between effector functions and residues lining the entrance funnel are highly varied, with the positively charged arginine patch defined by Arg463, Arg534 and Arg536 being the only 'hot-spot' common to several studied complexes. This variability stems in part from the fact that the effector/GCPII interfaces generally encompass isolated areas of nonpolar residues within the entrance funnel and resulting van der Waals contacts lack the directionality typical for hydrogen bonding interactions. The presented data unravel a complexity of binding modes of inhibitors within non-prime site(s) of GCPII and can be exploited for the design of novel GCPII-specific compounds., Pdb Id Codes: Atomic coordinates of the present structures together with the experimental structure factor amplitudes were deposited at the RCSB Protein Data Bank under accession codes 4P44 (complex with JRB-4-81), 4P45 (complex with JRB-4-73), 4P4B (complex with CTT54), 4P4D (complex with MP1C), 4P4E (complex with MP1D), 4P4F (complex with NC-2-40), 4P4I (complex with T33) and 4P4J (complex with T33D)., (© 2015 FEBS.)

Coenzyme A (CoA) is a ubiquitous cofactor involved in numerous essential biochemical transformations, and along with its thioesters is a key regulator of intermediary metabolism. Pantothenate (vitamin B5) phosphorylation by pantothenate kinase (PanK) is thought to control the rate of CoA production. Pantothenate kinase associated neurodegeneration is a hereditary disease that arises from mutations that inactivate the human PANK2 gene. Aryl phosphoramidate phosphopantothenate derivatives were prepared to test the feasibility of using phosphopantothenate replacement therapy to bypass the genetic deficiency in the Pank1(-/-) mouse model. The efficacies of candidate compounds were first compared by measuring the ability to increase CoA levels in Pank1(-/-) mouse embryo fibroblasts. Administration of selected candidate compounds to Pank1(-/-) mice corrected their deficiency in hepatic CoA. The PanK bypass was confirmed by the incorporation of intact phosphopantothenate into CoA using triple-isotopically labeled compound. These results provide strong support for PanK as a master regulator of intracellular CoA and illustrate the feasibility of employing PanK bypass therapy to restore CoA levels in genetically deficient mice., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

A direct installation of a methyl phosphoramidate group by using methyl benzylphosphoramidochloridate into carbohydrates and amino acid is described. This one-step synthesis is efficient for both primary and secondary alcohols and exhibited excellent regioselectivity and functional group compatibility. Formation of a single diastereomer is observed in certain cases. The N-benzyl protecting group on methyl phosphoramidates is easily removed under mild conditions.

A series of acyl phosphonamidates, the synthetic precursors to bisphosphonates, have been readily prepared from phosphoramidite type reagents and a range of acid chlorides. These reactions were performed using solventless conditions, where purification was easily achieved using column chromatography with yields ranging from 71-90%. Furthermore, we have demonstrated that these acyl phosphonamidates could be used for the preparation of unsymmetrical bisphosphonates, which do date are scarcely reported in the literature.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a cell-surface enzyme-biomarker that is actively pursued for targeted delivery of imaging and therapeutic agents for prostate cancer. Our lab has developed PSMA inhibitors based on a phosphoramidate scaffold, which has shown both high selectivity for PSMA-positive tumors and rapid clearance in vivo when radiolabeled with (18)F. However, this scaffold exhibits hydrolytic instability under low pH and high temperature conditions, barring the use of other imaging or therapeutic radionuclides such as (68)Ga or (177)Lu. Previous studies in our lab have shown a trend in increasing acid stability as the distance between the phosphoramidate core and the α-carboxylate of the P1 residue is increased. Therefore, a new generation of phosphoramidate inhibitors was developed based on trans-4-hydroxyproline as the P1 residue to restrict the interaction of the α-carboxylate to the phosphoramidate core. These hydroxyproline inhibitors demonstrated comparable IC50 values to earlier generations as well as enhanced thermal and acid stability., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The first copper-catalysed diastereoselective synthesis of P-chiral phosphoramidate prodrugs (ProTides) is reported. This procedure allows the synthesis of diastereomeric-enriched mixtures of ProTides. Application of this methodology to the asymmetric phosphorylation of purine and pyrimidine nucleoside analogues is presented.

2-Deoxy-α-d-ribose-1-phosphate is of great interest as it is involved in the biosynthesis and/or catabolic degradation of several nucleoside analogues of biological and therapeutic relevance. However due to the lack of a stabilising group at its 2-position, it is difficult to synthesize stable prodrugs of this compound. In order to overcome this lack of stability, the synthesis of carbasugar analogues of 2-deoxyribose-1-phosphate was envisioned. Herein the preparation of a series of prodrugs of two carbocyclic analogues of 2-deoxyribose-1-phosphate using the phosphoramidate ProTide technology, along with their biological evaluation against HIV and cancer cell proliferation, is reported., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The synthesis of 9-(β-d-1,3-dioxolan-4-yl)2,6-diaminopurine nucleoside phosphoramidate prodrugs as well as various 2-amino-6-carbamoylpurine dioxolane derivatives and their phosphoramidates prodrugs is reported. Their ability to block HIV and HBV replication along with their cytotoxicity toward HepG2, human lymphocyte, CEM and Vero cells was also assessed., (Published by Elsevier Ltd.)

The first highly diastereo- and enantioselective additions of a halogen and phosphoramidic acid to unactivated alkenes have been developed, catalyzed by a chiral Brønsted acid. A unique feature of these additions is the opportunity for stereocontrol at two noncontiguous chiral centers, carbon and phosphorus, leading to cyclic P-chiral phosphoramidates. In addition to their inherent value, the phosphoramidates are precursors to enantioenriched epoxy allylamines.

An iridium-catalyzed phosphoramidation of arene C-H bonds with phosphoryl azide as the amino source is described. The direct C-H phosphoramidation of arenes bearing pyridinyl, pyrazoyl, and quinolinyl as the directing group has good functional group tolerance and occurs smoothly under mild conditions, providing N-aryl phosphoramidates in good yields.

Activity-based probes (ABPs) are small molecules that exclusively form covalent bonds with catalytically active enzymes. In the last decade, they have especially been used in functional proteomics studies of proteases. Here, we present phosphoramidate peptides as a novel type of ABP for serine proteases. These molecules can be made in a straightforward manner by standard Fmoc-based solid-phase peptide synthesis, allowing rapid diversification. The resulting ABPs covalently bind different serine proteases, depending on the amino acid recognition element adjacent to the reactive group. A reporter tag enables downstream gel-based analysis or LC-MS/MS-mediated identification of the targeted proteases. Overall, we believe that these readily accessible probes will provide new avenues for the functional study of serine proteases in complex proteomes., (© 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

A two-step route for introducing methyl phosphoramidate moieties onto carbohydrates is reported. The approach uses methyl pivolyl H-phosphonate as the phosphorylating reagent to produce an isolable carbohydrate H-phosphonate intermediate that is then oxidized by a Todd-Atherton reaction. The stability of the product methyl phosphoramidates was subsequently evaluated using various deprotection strategies.

Gemcitabine (dFdC) is a cytidine analog remarkably active against a wide range of solid tumors. Inside a cell, gemcitabine is phosphorylated by deoxycytidine kinase to yield gemcitabine monophosphate, further converted to gemcitabine di- and triphosphate. The most frequent form of acquired resistance to gemcitabine in vitro is the deoxycytidine kinase deficiency. Thus, proper prodrugs carrying the 5'-pdFdC moiety may help to overcome this problem. A series of new derivatives of gemcitabine possessing N-acyl(thio)phosphoramidate moieties were prepared and their cytotoxic properties were determined. N-Acyl-phosphoramidate derivatives of gemcitabine have similar cytotoxicity as gemcitabine itself, and have been found accessible to the cellular enzymes. The nicotinic carboxamide derivative of gemcitabine 5'-O-phosphorothioate occurred to be the best inhibitor of bacterial DNA polymerase I and human DNA polymerase α., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Phosphorylation of amines, alcohols, and sulfoximines are accomplished using molecular iodine as a catalyst and H2O2 as the sole oxidant under mild reaction conditions. This method provides an easy route for synthesizing a variety of phosphoramidates, phosphorus triesters and sulfoximine-derived phosphoramidates which are of biological importance.

The copper-catalysed oxidative coupling of amines and H-phosphonates to produce phosphoramidates has been achieved using CuI as the catalyst and O2 (present in air) as the sole oxidant.

Among the many prodrug approaches aimed at delivering nucleoside monophosphates into cells, the phosphoramidate ProTide approach is one that has shown success, which has made it possible for some of the phosphoramidates to enter into clinical trials. Herein, we report the synthesis and antiviral activity of a series of phosphoramidate ProTides designed to bypass the thymidine kinase (TK) dependence of the parent nucleoside analogues. Phosphoramidate derivatives of (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2'-deoxyuridine (BVDU) that contain L-alanine or pivaloyloxymethyl iminodiacetate (IDA-POM) exhibit anti-HSV-1 and anti-VZV activity in cell cultures, but they largely lost antiviral potency against TK-deficient virus strains. Among deazapurine nucleosides and their phosphoramidate derivatives, the 7-deazaadenine containing nucleosides and their phosphoramidate triester derivatives showed weak antiviral activity against VZV. Apparently, intracellular nucleotide delivery with these phosphoramidates is partly successful. However, none of the compound prodrugs showed superior activity to their parent drugs., (Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

We recently reported the use of PSCl3 for the thiophosphorylation of alkylamines where the resulting N-thiophosphoramidate ions could be readily S-alkylated (Chem. Commun., 2011, 47, 6156-6158.). Herein we report the development of this methodology using amino acid, amino sugar, aminonucleoside and aniline substrates. The hydrolysis properties of N-thiophosphoramidate ions and their reactivities towards alkylating agents are also explored. In addition, we demonstrate the application of our approach to the preparation of a small library of compounds, including quinoline-based N,S-dialkylthiophosphoramidates which were tested for antileishmanial activity.

7-Deazapurines are known to possess broad antiviral activity, however the 2'-C-methylguanosine analogue displays poor cell permeation and limited phosphorylation, thus is not an efficient inhibitor of hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication. We previously reported the 6-O-methyl entity as a prodrug moiety to increase liphophilicity of guanine nucleosides and the ProTide approach applied to 2'-C-methyl-6-O-methylguanosine has lead to potent HCV inhibitors now in clinical trials. In this Letter, we report the synthesis and biological evaluation of 2'-C-methyl-6-O-methyl-7-deaza guanosine and ProTide derivatives. In contrast to prior studies, removal of the N-7 of the nucleobase entirely negates anti-HCV activity compared to the 2'-C-methyl-6-O-methylguanosine analogues. To understand better this significant loss of activity, enzymatic assays and molecular modeling were carried out and suggested 2'-C-methyl-6-O-methyl-7-deaza guanosine and related ProTides do not act as efficient prodrugs of the free nucleotide, in marked contrast to the case of the parent guanine analogue., (Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We report herein an application of an α-amidoalkylation reaction, as an alternative efficient synthesis of 4-aryl- and 4-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroisoquinoline derivatives. The amides required for this purpose would result from reaction of aminoacetaldehyde dimethylacetal with different substituted benzenes in polyphosphoric acid, followed by acylation of the obtained amines with different acid chlorides or sulfochlorides. We compared the cyclisation step using conventional (milieu of acetic-trifluoracetic acid = 4:1) and solid supported reagents (SiO₂/PPA), as recovered, regenerated and reused without loss of its activity catalyst. We found that in comparison to conventional methods, the yields of the reaction are greater and the reaction time is shorter.

A novel and efficient method for the preparation of antiviral nucleoside 5'-H-phosphonamidates has been developed. The oxidization of the H-phosphonamidate intermediates with iodine and sulfur afforded nucleoside 5'-phosphoramidates and 5'-thiophosphoramidates in high yields.

An efficient protection protocol for the 6-exo-amino group of purine nucleosides with various chloroformates was developed utilizing N-methylimidazole (NMI). The reaction of an exo-N(6)-group of adenosine analogue 1 with alkyl/and aryl chloroformates under optimized conditions provided the N(6)-carbamoyl adenosines (2a-j) in good to excellent yields. The reaction of N(6)-Cbz-protected nucleosides (5a-c) with phenyl phosphoryl chloride (7) using t-BuMgCl followed by catalytic hydrogenation afforded the corresponding phosphoramidate pronucleotides (8a-c) in excellent yield.

A highly efficient tandem double Friedel-Crafts reaction between indoles and 2-formylbiphenyl derivatives by chiral N-triflyl phosphoramide was realized. Under mild conditions, various 9-(3-indolyl) fluorene derivatives have been obtained in good yield and up to 94% ee. Comparing to their corresponding chiral phosphoric acids, chiral N-triflyl phosphoramides catalyzed reactions led to products with opposite absolute configuration., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2012)

The anti-HIV activity of nucleoside analogues is highly related to their substrate specificity for cellular and viral kinase and, as triphosphate, for HIV-RT. A series of phosphoramidate d4T derivatives have been synthesized and evaluated as substrates for HIV-1 RT, and also tested for their in vitro anti-HIV activity. Compounds 2 and 4 are able to inhibit HIV-1 replication to the same extent as d4T and d4TMP in MT-4 cells as well as in CEM/0 cells and CEM/TK(-) cells. The data suggests that these phosphoramidates are hydrolysed to d4T before exerting their antiviral activity.

A series of phosphoramidate and phosphorothioamidate compounds based on the lead antitubulin herbicidal agents amiprophos methyl (APM) and butamifos were synthesised and evaluated for antimalarial activity. Of these compounds, phosphorothioamidates were more active than their oxo congeners and the nature of both aryl and amido substituents influenced the desired activity. The most active compound was 46, O-ethyl-O-(2-methyl-4-nitrophenyl)-N-cyclopentyl phosphorothioamidate, which was more effective than the lead compound., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We report the synthesis of a series of novel 2'-deoxy-2',2'-difluoro-5-halouridines and their corresponding phosphoramidate ProTides. All compounds were evaluated for antiviral activity and for cellular toxicity. Interestingly, 2'-deoxy-2',2'-difluoro-5-iodo- and -5-bromo-uridines showed selective activity against feline herpes virus replication in cell culture due to a specific recognition (activation) by the virus-encoded thymidine kinase., (Crown Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

An aqueous method for the preparation of N,S-dialkyl thiophosphoramidates is reported. Thiophosphorylation of alkylamines was performed using SPCl(3) in aqueous reaction media, and the resulting thiophosphoramidate-S-anions were S-alkylated with soft electrophiles. Ranges of amines and electrophiles were explored.

Background: pyrimidine nucleoside analogues represent an established class of clinically useful antiviral agents. Once inside the cell, they are activated by a series of intracellular phosphorylation steps to produce 5´-triphosphate derivatives. In many cases, nucleoside analogues are poor substrates for the cellular kinases needed for their activation. It is clear that intracellular introduction of nucleoside analogues as phosphorylated metabolites (so called pronucleotides) could circumvent difficulties associated with the use of non-phosphorylated nucleoside analogues., Methods: among the current diverse pronucleotide approaches, nucleoside phosphoramidate derivatives appear to be an interesting class of potential antiviral agents because of the known relatively low stability of the P-N bond in cellular media. On the basis of oxathiaphospholane chemistry, a series of novel conjugates of 5´-O-phosphorylated zidovudine (AZT) and stavudine (d4T) with amino acids carboxamidates were obtained. The synthesis was performed using N-(2-thiono-1,3,2-oxathiaphospholane) derivatives of amino acids carboxamides as precursors., Results: all synthesized compounds were studied against DNA and RNA viruses. Specific antiviral activities were only detected against HIV type-1 and HIV type-2 in MT-4 cell cultures at compound concentrations that were equally active or slightly inferior to the activity of their parent drugs (2- to 20-fold for the AZT prodrugs and 6- to 40-fold for the d4T prodrugs). The compounds were also evaluated for their anti-HIV activity in CEM and in CEM thymidine-kinase-deficient (CEM/TK(-)) cell cultures., Conclusions: loss of compound antiviral potency in the CEM/TK(-) cells suggested an eventual conversion of the test compounds to the free nucleosides prior to further phosphorylation to the active 5´-triphosphate metabolite.

Background: Recently, the synthesis and antiviral activity of a series of 2'-fluoro derivatives of the most potent anti-varicella zoster virus (VZV) agent reported to date, the bicyclic nucleoside analogue Cf1743, have been reported., Methods: Here, we present molecular modelling studies for the interaction of these compounds with VZV-encoded thymidine kinase (TK) and we report the synthesis of a series of phosphoramidate ProTides of these compounds designed to bypass the nucleoside kinase dependence of the parent nucleoside analogues., Results: The phosphoramidate prodrugs were equally effective as their parent compounds against VZV in cell culture, but lost antiviral potency against TK-deficient VZV strains., Conclusions: ProTide-based kinase bypass is not successful in this case.

The chemoselective incorporation of phosphoramidate moieties into peptides by a Staudinger-phosphite reaction of azides can be performed in many solvents, including water. In this report, we present two strategies for an efficient synthesis of phosphoramidate-containing peptides, in which the Staudinger-phosphite reaction is performed either on the solid support or in solution with aryl azido-containing peptides. The corresponding Staudinger reactions proceed in high conversion rates and deliver phosphoramidate peptides, in which the modification site is located in the middle of the peptide sequence., (© 2010 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)