Background of the Invention

Leukotriene D ₄ and C ₄ (LTD ₄ /LTC ₄ ) and leukotriene B ₄ (LTB ₄ ) are products of the arachidonic acid metabolic pathway. LTD ₄ and LTC ₄ are associated with smooth muscle contraction and contract guinea pig ileum, human and guinea pig bronchi and human pulmonary artery and vein. LTB is associated with neutrophil stimulation and is characterized by chemotaxis, aggregation and degranulation. LTB ₄ is believed to be an important mediator of inflammation. High levels of LTB ₄ are detected in rheumatoid arthritis, gout, psoriasis, and inflammatory bowel disease. Thus antagonists of LTB ₄ are useful in the therapy of such diseases.

Gastroenterolocrv. 1985: f$8. : 580-7 discusses the role of arachidonic acid metabolites in inflammatory bowel disease.

British Medical Bulletin. (1983), vol. 39, No. 3, pp. 249-254, generally discusses the pharmacology and pathophysiology of leukotriene B4.

Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. Vol. 138, No. 2 (1986), pp. 540-546 discusses the pharmacology of a specific LTB ₄ antagonist which has a different structure than compounds of this invention.

The Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 1977,

Vol. 20, (3) : 376 discloses a compound similar to the compounds of Formula I.

The prior art generally describes the above compounds as LTD ₄ antagonists for use as anti-allergy compounds or as antagonists of SRS-A, the slow reacting substance of anaphylaxis. In sharp contrast, compounds

of Formula I are selective LTB ₄ antagonists useful in treating inflammatory diseases.

U.S. 4,281,008, U.S. 3,822,148, and U.S. 4,006,245 generically disclose formulae which encompass compounds similar to Formula I but do not exemplify or otherwise enable the preparation and use of such compounds, nor do they teach the selective LTB ₄ antagonist activity of compounds of the present invention.

U.S. 4,889,871 generically discloses formulae which encompass the compound 1 described in Scheme 1 herein and which is used as an intermediate in the preparation of the compounds of this invention. The compounds are disclosed as useful anti-inflammatory agents.

Summary of the Invention This invention encompasses compounds of the following formula and the stereoisomers and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

wherein R represents lower alkyl of 1 to 6 carbon atoms, lower alkenyl of 2 to 6 carbon atoms, or -(CH ) _m -R ³ wherein R ³ represents cycloalkyl of 3 to 5 carbon atoms and m is 1, 2 or 3;

R- _L is -CONH ₂ or - C - NHS0 ₂ R ₂ wherein R ₂ is lower alkyl, phenyl, unsubstituted or substituted with lower alkyl.

or and n is an integer from 2 to 5.

These compounds are selective antagonists of leukotriene B ₄ (LTB ₄ ) with little or no antagonism of leukotriene D (LTD ₄ ) and are useful anti-inflammatory agents for treating inflammatory bowel disease, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, asthma and psoriasis.

Detailed Description of the Invention

This invention encompasses the compounds of Formula I as previously described.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention are compounds of the Formula la, and the stereoisomers and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

wherein R is propyl, 2-propenyl or cyclopropylmethyl, and R _n is

<_ NIHSO . ^N > or

It is implicit in this application that the tetrazole moiety consists of the tautomeric structures

(a) (b)

with (b) being used herein to depict the tetrazole moiety.

Pharmaceutically acceptable salts such as ammonium, sodium, potassium, alkaline earth, tetraalkylammonium and the like are encompassed by the invention.

Scheme 1 illustrates a specific embodiment of the method for preparing compounds of the invention.

SCHEME 1

The present invention is further illustrated by the following examples which are not intended to be limiting.

Example 1

Referring to Scheme 1, 2.1 grams of compound 1 were dissolved in 50 ml. of toluene and 15 ml. of (C0C1) ₂ was added. The mixture was stirred at room temperature for four hours. The reaction was then stopped, the solvent was removed in vacuo to produce a crude oil and 150 ml. of CH ₂ C1 ₂ was added. The solution was then cooled to room temperature and NH ₃ gas was bubbled through the solution for one hour. The reaction mixture was then poured into 150 ml of water, the layers were separated and the aqueous layer was extracted three times with CH ₂ C1 ₂ . The mixture was then filtered and dried to obtain 1.45 grams of compound 2 _. .

Example 2

1.35 (2.79 m mole) grams of compound 2. were dissolved in 15 ml of CH ₂ C1 ₂ and 2.50 grams (9.77 m mole) of

Burgess reagent ^* were added. The mixture was stirred at room temperature overnight and stripped of solvent to obtain 1.30 grams of compound 3_.

Elements Carbon Hydrogen Nitrogen

958.2 g of compound 3. and 203.4 mg. of (CH ₃ ) ₃ Si N ₃ were placed in a 40 ml reaction vial which was sealed and heated to 150°C overnight. The heating was continued for an additional 44 hours for a total heating time of 64 hours. The reaction mixture was then passed through a silica column with a 5/95/1 mixture of CH ₃ 0H/CH ₂ C1 ₂ / acetic acid. 100 mg of the product, compound 4, was obtained.

Elements Carbon Hydrogen Nitrogen

+

Burgess, Reagent CH ₃ 0 ₂ CNS0 ₂ NEt ₃ methyl(carboxysulfamoyl)triethylammonium hydroxide inner salt. J. Org. Chem. 38 26 (1973)

Example 4 Synthesis of Sulfonamides

A mixture of 2.9g (6mMol) of compound 1 , 0.96g benzenesulfona ide, 0.96g (7.8 mMol) of 4-(dimethyl- amino)pyridine, 1.08g (6mMol) of l-[3- (dimethylamino)propyl]-3-ethylcarbodiimide hydrochloride, 5g of 4A molecular sieves and 60 L of dry dichloromethane was stirred at room temperature for 4 days. The reaction mixture was filtered and the filtrate was washed with IN HC1, water and brine. Evaporation of the dry (Na S0 ₄ ) solvent in vacuo afforded crude product which was purified by chromatography on silica gel (hexane/ethyl acetate/acetic acid, 65/34/1 as eluant) to afford 3.1g of product.

Microanalysis: Theory C 65.47, H 6.62, N 2.25 Found: C 65.18, H 6.67, N 2.25

Example 5

Compound A (2.1g) was dissolved in dry toluene and oxalyl chloride (1.2 equivalents) added with stirring

under argon. 1 drop of DMF was added and the reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 1 hour. The solvent was removed in vacuo and the residue dissolved in dry CH ₂ C1 ₂ and ammonia gas slowly bubbled through the solution for 20 minutes. Water (100 cm ³ ) was added and the organic layer separated, dried over magnesium sulfate and the volatiles removed in vacuo. The resulting residue was purified by silica gel chromatography to afford compound (B) as a white solid (l.8g).

Analysis: Calculated for C ₂₈ H ₃₅ N0 ₆ C 69.83, H 7.32, N 2.91

Found: C 69.60, H 7.23, N 2.86 Example 6

3.0g of compound B were dissolved in methylene chloride (25cm ³ ) containing Burgess reagent (4.0g) and the mixture stirred at room temperature overnight. At this point, the solvent was removed and the residue purified by chromatography on silica gel using ethyl acetate/hexane (2:8) as eluant. Compound (C) was isolated as a colorless oil (2.8g).

Compound (C) (2.8g), sodium azide (1.2g) and triethylamine hydrochloride (1.2g) were dissolved in 1- methyl 2-pyrrolidone (60cm ³ ) and the solution heated at 150°C for 2 hours. The mixture was poured into 200cm ³ of water, acidified with dilute HCl and then extracted with ethyl acetate. The organic layers were dried and evaporated in vacuo to afford a crude residue which was purified by chromatography on silica gel using ethyl acetate/hexane/acetic acid (50:49:1) as solvent. Compound (D) was obtained as a white solid (2.1g).

Analysis for C ₂₈ H ₃₄ N ₄ 0 ₅ Calculated: C 66.39, H 6.76, N 11.06

Found: C 66.19, H 6.87, N 11.26

Example 8

Compound (E) , (l.Og) was converted to the amide, compound, (F) as illustrated in Example 5. l.Og. of compound (F) was obtained after chromatography of the crude product on silica gel using ethyl acetate/hexane (3:7) as eluant.

Example 9

Compound F, (l.Og) was treated with Burgess reagent under the conditions described in Example 6. The crude product thus obtained was purified by chromatography on silica gel using hexane/ethyl acetate (2:8) as eluant. Compound G (870mgs) was isolated as a colorless oil.

Micro Analysis for C ₂₉ H ₃₅ N0 ₅ Calculated: C 72.93 , H

7.39 , N 2.93

Found: C 72.45 , H 7.30 , N 2.90

Example 10

Compound G (0.8g) was converted to the tetrazole H by treatment with sodium azide (330mgs) , triethylamine hydrochloride (0.3g) in 1-methyl 2-pyrrolidone (20cm ³ ) The mixture was heated at 150°C for 2 hours and ^* 3 partitioned between 2N HCl and ethyl acetate. The organic layer was removed, dried (MgS0 ₄ ) and stripped in vacuo to afford a crude oil. This material was purified by chromatography on silica gel (ethyl

acetate/hexane/acetic acid (50:49:1) as eluant) to provide 720 mgs. of compound H.

Micro Analysis for C ₂₉ H ₃₆ N ₄ 0 ₅ Calculated: C 66.90, H 6.97, N 10.76

Found: C 66.54, H 6.93, N 10.88

The biological activity of the compounds of this invention was determined by the following test procedures.

Preparation of Human Neutrophils

Neutrophils were purified from venous blood of normal human donors using standard techniques of dextran sedimentation, centrifugation on Ficoll-paque® (Pharmacia) or Histopaque® sterile solution (Sigma) and hypotonic lysis of erythrocytes (Boyum, A. , Isolation of Leukocytes from Human Blood: Further Observations. Scand. J. Lab. Clin. Invest.. 21 (Suppl. 97) : 31, 1968) . The purity of isolated neutrophils was >95%.

Human Neutrophil Degranulation Assay

Neutrophil degranulation was determined by measuring the release of myeloperoxidase activity into the incubation medium. Neutrophils (3 x 10 ⁶ ) in 1 ml HBSS solution were preincubated with cytochalasin B(5 μg) at 37°C for 5 minutes, followed by preincubation with test compounds for 7 minutes. Neutrophils were then incubated for 2 to 20 minutes with LTB ₄ (5 x 10~ ⁸ M) to induce degranulation. Following incubation, samples were centrifuged and myeloperoxidase was extracted from the cell pellets by sonication in phosphate buffer containing 0.4% Triton X-100. Triton X-100 was. also added to the supernatants to a concentration of 0.4%. The supernatants and the pellet - extracts were then assayed spectrophotometrically for myeloperoxidase activity by determining the rate of decomposition of

H ₂ 0 ₂ with o-dianisidine as hydrogen donor as described by Renlund, et al. (Renlund, D. G. , MacFarlane, J. L. , Christensen, R. D. , Lynch, R. E. , and Rothstein, G., A Quantitative and Sensitive Method for Measurement of Myeloperoxidase, Clinical Research 28:75A, 1980).

Myeloperoxidase activity released into the supernatant was expressed as the percent of the average total activity (pellet plus supernatant) .

LTB ₄ Receptor Binding Assay

Neutrophils (4 - 6X10 ⁶ ) in lml Hanks' balanced salt solution containing 10 mM HEPES buffer (HBSS) , pH 7.4 and 30 μM nordihydroguaiaretic acid were incubated with 0.6xl0~ ⁹ M ( ³ H) LTB ₄ in the presence or absence of test compounds. The incubation was carried out at 0°C for 45 minutes and terminated by adding 5ml of ice-cold HBSS followed by rapid filtration of incubation.mixture under vacuum through GF/C glass fiber filters. The filters were further washed with 10ml HBSS and radioactivity was determined. Specific binding was defined as the difference between total binding and nonspecific binding which was not displaced by 10~ ⁷ M unlabeled LTB ₄ . All data refer to specific binding.

Modified Boyden Chamber Chemotaxis

Human neutrophils were isolated from citrated peripheral blood using standard techniques of dextran sedimentation, followed by centrifugation on Histopaque® sterile solution (Sigma) or Ficoll-paque® (Pharmacia) and hypotonic lysis of erythrocytes. A final cell suspension of 3.4 X 10 ⁶ neutrophils/ml of HEPES-buffere^ Hanks balanced salt solution (HBSS, pH 7.3) was adde to the upper well (0.8 ml) of a modified Boyden chamber (blind well). The lower well (0.2 ml), separated by a polycarbonate membrane (Nuleopore

Corp.), contained HBSS or 3 X 10~ ⁸ M LTB ₄ in the presence of absence of test compound. Following a 90 minute incubation at 37° C in 5% C0 ₂ -95% air, cells from the

lower well were lysed and nuclei counted in a Model S- Plus-IV Coulter Counter. Percent inhibition was calculated from cell counts corrected for random migration by subtracting the mean of the HBSS control.

The compounds of this invention can be administered in a number of dosage forms. A preferred method of delivery would be oral or in such a manner so as to localize the action of the inhibitor. In an inflammatory condition such as rheumatoid arthritis the compounds could be injected directly into the affected joint. The compounds could also be administered in oral unit dosage forms such as tablets, capsules, pills, powders or granules. They may be introduced intraperitoneally, subcutaneously, or intramuscularly using forms known to the pharmaceutical art. Topical application in the form of salves and ointments are useful for treating psoriasis. Regardless of the route of administration selected, the compounds are formulated into pharmaceutically acceptable dosage forms by conventional methods known to the pharmaceutical art.

Results for representative compounds of the invention are shown in Table 1.

Data are expressed as potency relative to compound 1 in Scheme 1, 7-[3, (4-acetyl-3-methoxy-2- propylphenoxy) propoxy]-3,4-dihydro-8-propyl-2H-l- benzopyran-2-carboxylic acid, which is disclosed generally in U.S. 4,889,871.

Table 1

Relative Potency Values for LTB^ Antagonists

LTB ₄ Receptor

Compound Binding Chemotaxis Degranulation

o

Propyl - C IINHS0 ₂ Ph 1.35 1.3

2-Propenyl 0.8 38

C clopropylmet 22.5 75

Propyl -COJJH 1.0 1.0 1.0

(Compound 1 ) (3xlO ^'7 M) ( 1.8x10 ^" ^) ( 1.5x10 ^" ^)

Data are expressed as potency relative to a known LTB ₄ antagonist, compound 1 in Example 1, defined as 1.0. Values in parenthesis refer to IC ₅₀ values for compound 1. IC ₅₀ is the effective concentration needed to cause 50% inhibition.

The compounds of this invention can be administered in a number of dosage forms. A preferred method of delivery would be oral or in such a manner as to localize the action of the antagonist. In an inflammatory condition such as rheumatoid arthritis, the compounds could be ^' -iected directly into the affected joint. The compounds could also be administered in oral unit dosage forms such as tablets, capsules, pills, powders or granules. They may be introduced intraperitoneally, subcutaneously, or intramuscularly using forms known to the pharmaceutical art. Topical application in the form of salves and

art. Topical application in the form of salves and ointments is useful for treating psoriasis. Regardless of the route of administration selected, the compounds are formulated into pharmaceutically acceptable dosage forms by conventional methods known to the pharmaceutical art.

In general, a unit dosage of a compound of the invention would contain from about 50 mg to about 500 mg of the active ingredient with from about 70 mg to about 300 mg preferred.

An effective but non-toxic quantity of the compound is employed in treatment. The dosage regimen for antagonism of LTB by the compounds of this invention is selected in accordance with a variety of factors including the type, age, weight, sex, and medical condition of the mammal, the particular disease and its severity, the route of administration and the particular compound employed. An ordinarily skilled physician or veterinarian will readily determine and prescribe the effective amount of the compound to prevent or arrest the progress of the condition. In so proceeding, the physician or veterinarian could employ or use relatively low dosages at first, subsequently increasing the dose until a maximum response is obtained. Generally, a dosage range of l to 25 mg/kg of body weight is administered to patients in need of treatment for inflammatory conditions.