Synthesis of 4-amino-6-(hetero)arylalkylamino-1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one derivatives as potent A2A adenosine receptor antagonists

In previous papers (Colotta, V. et al. Arch. Pharm. Pharm. Med. Chem. 1999, 332, 39. Colotta, V. et al. J. Med. Chem. 2000, 43, 1158) we reported the synthesis and binding affinity at bovine (b) A1 and A2A and human (h) A3 adenosine receptors (ARs) of the 4-amino-6-benzylamino-2-phenyl-1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one (compound A) which resulted in a potent and selective A2A AR antagonist. Compound A provided the lead compound of a series of 6- or 8-(hetero)arylalkylamino-4-amino-2-phenyl-1,2,4-triazolo[4,3-a]quinoxalin-1-one derivatives (compounds 1–20) which are the object of this paper. Most of the newly synthesized compounds are inactive at hA3 ARs while they possess both nanomolar bA2A affinities and different degrees of bA2A versus bA1 selectivity. The binding data show that hydrophilic substituents on the benzyl moiety are the most profitable for bA2A receptor affinity. Furthermore, their steric hindrance seems to play an important role for the bA2A AR interaction, thus suggesting that the 6-aralkylamino moiety of these ligands interacts with a size-limited binding pocket of this AR subtype. Thus, the SAR studies provided us some new insights about the structural requirements of the bA2A AR recognition site. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]