Biaryl substituted heterocycle inhibitors of LTA4H for treating inflammation

1. A compound of formula:

wherein

Ar is selected from the group consisting of

phenyl; and

phenyl substituted with from one to three substituents independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, loweralkyl, loweracyl, loweralkoxy, fluoroloweralkyl, fluoroloweralkoxy, hydroxy, hydroxy(C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, formyl, formyl(C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, cyano, cyano(C 1 -C 4 )alkyl, benzyl, benzyloxy, phenyl, substituted phenyl, heteroaryl, heterocyclylalkyl, substituted heteroaryl, and nitro;

X is selected from the group consisting of direct bond, O, SO, S(O 2 ), NR 1 , CH 2 , CF 2 , CH 2 CH 2 , CH 2 NR 1 , NR 1 CH 2 , CH═CH, C═O, CH 2 C═O, CR 1a R 1b , OCR 1a R 1b , CR 1a R 1b O; SO 2 NR 1 , NR 1 SO 2 , C(═O)NR 1 and NR 1 C(═O);

R 1 is selected separately in each occurrence from the group consisting of H and lower alkyl;

R 1a is selected from the group consisting of H, OH and lower alkyl;

R 1b is selected from the group consisting of H and lower alkyl, or R 1a and R 1b taken together may form a 3-6 membered ring, which may optionally contain a heteroatom chosen from O, S, and N;

HetAr is a phenyl ring attached via a ring carbon to Q, further characterized in that Q and X cannot be on adjacent positions in said aryl ring;

Q is —O—;

n is an integer selected from 1-5;

HET is selected from the group consisting of

pyrrolidine and

pyrrolidine substituted with one or two substituents independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, hydroxyl, amino, carboxy, loweralkyl, loweracyl, loweralkoxy, N-oxide, fluoroloweralkyl, fluoroloweralkoxy, formyl, cyano, benzyl, benzyloxy, phenyl, heteroaryl and nitro; and

taken together ZW is H or

Z is (CH 2 ) 1-10 , in which one or two (CH 2 ) may optionally be replaced by —O—, —NR 1 —, —SO—, —S(O) 2 —, —C(═O)— or —C═O(NH)—, provided that said —O—, —NR 1 —, —SO—, —S(O) 2 —, —C(═O)— or —C═O(NH)— are not at the point of attachment to HET and are separated by at least one —(CH 2 )—;

W is selected from the group consisting of acyl, hydroxyl, carboxyl, amino, —C(O)NHR 4 , aminoacyl, —COOalkyl, —CHO, heterocyclyl, substituted aryl, substituted heterocyclyl, sulfonamide, —C(O)fluoroalkyl, —C(O)CH 2 C(O)Oalkyl, —C(O)CH 2 C(O)Ofluoroalkyl, —SH, —C(O)NH(OH), —C(O)N(OH)R 4 , —N(OH)C(O)OH, —N(OH)C(O)R 4 ; and

R 4 is selected from the group consisting of H, (C 1 -C 4 ) alkyl, and phenyl(C 1 -C 4 ) alkyl;

with the provisos that;

(a) when HET is (S)-pyrrolidine or rac-pyrrolidine Ar is phenyl or halo-substituted phenyl, and HetAr is p-phenylene, then the Z—W combination is other than H.

2. A compound according to claim 1 wherein the HetAr ring is para or meta phenylene of formula:

3. A compound according to claim 2 of formula:

wherein

Ar is selected from the group consisting of

phenyl; and

phenyl substituted with from one to three substituents independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, loweralkyl, loweracyl, loweralkoxy, fluoroloweralkyl, fluoroloweralkoxy, formyl, cyano, benzyl, benzyloxy, phenyl, heteroaryl and nitro;

X is selected from the group consisting of direct bond, O, SO, S(O 2 ), NR 1 , CH 2 , CF 2 , CH 2 O, C═O and CH 2 C═O;

R 1 is selected independently in each occurrence from the group consisting of H and lower alkyl;

n is an integer selected from 1-5;

HET is selected from the group consisting of

pyrrolidine and

pyrrolidine substituted with one or two substituents independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, loweralkyl, loweracyl, loweralkoxy, fluoroloweralkyl, fluoroloweralkoxy, formyl, cyano, benzyl, benzyloxy, phenyl, heteroaryl and nitro;

Z is (CH 2 ) 1-10 ; in which one or two (CH 2 ) may optionally be replaced by —O—, —NR 1 —, —SO, —S(O) 2 , —C(═O)— or —C═O(NH)—, provided that said —O—, —NR—, —SO—, —S(O) 2 —, —C(═O)— or —C═O(NH)— are not at the point of attachment to HET and are separated by at least two —(CH 2 )—;

W is selected from acyl, hydroxyl, carboxyl, amino, carboxamido, aminoacyl, —COOalkyl, —CHO, heterocyclyl, substituted aryl, and substituted heterocyclyl.

4. A compound according to claim 3 wherein X is selected from CH 2 , O and NR 1 .

5. A compound according to claim 3 wherein HET is (S) pyrrolidine, of the formula

wherein

R 3 is chosen from halogen, CF 3 , methyl, methoxy and CF 3 O.

6. A compound according to claim 3 wherein HET is (S) pyrrolidine, of the formula

wherein X is O or CH 2 .

7. A compound according to claim 3 wherein HET is (S) pyrrolidine, of the formula

wherein n is 1 or 2.

8. A compound according to claim 3 wherein HET is (S) pyrrolidine, of the formula

wherein Z is C 1 -C 4 alkylene.

9. A compound according to claim 3 wherein HET is (S) pyrrolidine, of the formula

wherein W is COOH.

10. A compound according to claim 3 wherein HET is (S) pyrrolidine, of the formula

wherein

R 3 is chosen from halogen, CF 3 , methyl, methoxy, CF 3 O;

X is O or CH 2 ;

n is 1 or 2;

Z is C 1 -C 4 alkylene and;

W is COOH.

11. A compound according to claim 3 wherein HET is pyrrolidine and the Z—W combination is other than H.

12. A compound according to claim 11 wherein HET-Z—W is selected from the group consisting of pyridinylmethylpyrrolidine, oxadiazolylmethylpyrrolidine, carboxyalkylpyrrolidine, and alkoxycarbonylalkylpyrrolidine.

13. A compound according to claim 12 wherein HET-Z—W is carboxyalkylpyrrolidine, of the formula:

wherein q is an integer selected from 2-6.

14. A compound according to claim 12 wherein HET-Z—W is carboxyalkyl (S) pyrrolidine, of formula:

wherein q is an integer selected from 2-6.

15. A compound according to claim 3 wherein HET is (R) pyrrolidine of the formula:

wherein

Ar is selected from the group consisting of

phenyl; and

phenyl substituted with from one to three substituents independently selected from the group consisting of halogen, loweralkyl, loweracyl, loweralkoxy, fluoroloweralkyl, fluoroloweralkoxy, hydroxy, hydroxy(C 1 -C 4 ) alkyl, formyl, formyl(C 1 -C 4 ) alkyl, cyano, cyano(C 1 -C 4 ) alkyl, benzyl, benzyloxy, phenyl, substituted phenyl, heteroaryl, heterocyclylalkyl, substituted heteroaryl, and nitro;

X is selected from the group consisting of direct bond, O, SO, S(O 2 ), NR 1 , CH 2 , CF 2 , CH 2 CH 2 , CH 2 NH, NHCH 2 , CH═CH, C═O and CH 2 C═O;

taken together ZW is H or

Z is (CH 2 ) 1-10 ; in which one or two (CH 2 ) may optionally be replaced by —O—, —NR 1 —, —SO—, —S(O) 2 —, —C(═O)— or —C═O(NH)—, provided that said —O—, —NR 1 —, —SO—, —S(O) 2 —, —C(═O)— or —C═O(NH)— are not at the point of attachment to HET and are separated by at least one —(CH 2 )—; and

W is selected from the group consisting of acyl, hydroxyl, carboxyl, amino, carboxamido, aminoacyl, —COOalkyl, —CHO, heterocyclyl, substituted aryl, substituted heterocyclyl.

16. A compound according to claim 15 wherein ZW is H, of the formula:

17. A compound according to claim 16 wherein X is selected from CH 2 , O and NR 1 .

18. A compound according to claim 17 wherein X is CH 2 or O, n is 1, and Ar is para-substituted phenyl.

19. A compound according to claim 18 wherein Ar is heteroarylphenyl.

20. A compound according to claim 3 wherein HET is (S) pyrrolidine, of the formula:

wherein

R 3 represents one to three residues independently selected from the group consisting of benzyl, benzyloxy, phenyl, heteroaryl and heteroaryl substituted with halogen, methyl, methoxy or trifluoromethoxy.

21. A compound according to claim 1 wherein Ar is

wherein the wavy line indicates the point of attachment to X and R 2 is chosen from hydrogen, halogen, trifluoromethyl, methyl, methoxy, thienyl, furanyl, and thienyl or furanyl substituted with halogen, trifluoromethyl, methyl or methoxy.

22. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier and a therapeutically effective amount of a compound according to claim 1 .

23. A method for inhibiting leukotriene A4 hydrolase comprising contacting the LTA4H enzyme with a therapeutically effective amount of a compound according to claim 1 .

24. A method for inhibiting leukotriene A4 hydrolase comprising contacting the LTA4H enzyme with a therapeutically effective amount of a compound according to claim 3 .

25. A method for treating inflammation comprising administering to a mammal a therapeutically effective amount of a compound according to claim 1 .

26. A method according to claim 25 wherein said inflammation is selected from allergic inflammation, acute inflammation and chronic inflammation.

27. A method for treating inflammation comprising administering to a mammal a therapeutically effective amount of a compound according to claim 1 and an inhibitor of 5-lipoxygenase activating protein (FLAP).

28. A method for treating inflammation comprising administering to a mammal a therapeutically effective amount of a compound according to claim 1 and a leukotriene B4 (LTB4) antagonist.

29. A compound according to claim 10 , wherein the compound is: