N-17-Alkylated Prodrugs of Opioids

1 . A compound of general formula:

R 1 R 2 R 3 N + —(C(R 1a )(R 2a ))—Ar—Z—C(O)—Y—(C(R 1 )(R 2 )) n —N—(R 3 )(R 4 )A −   II

or a salt, hydrate or solvate thereof wherein:

R 1 R 2 R 3 N + —represents a residue of an opioid wherein the lone pair of electrons of the tertiary amine nitrogen atom is replaced with a bond to —(C(R 1a )(R 2a )—Ar—Z—C(O)—Y—(C(R 1 )(R 2 )) n —N—(R 3 )(R 4 );

R 1a and R 2a are independently hydrogen, alkyl, substituted alkyl, alkoxy, substituted alkoxy, aryl, substituted aryl, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, heteroaryl, substituted heteroaryl, heteroarylalkyl or substituted heteroarylalkyl;

Ar is aryl, heteroaryl or arylaryl optionally substituted with one or more —F, —Cl, —Br, —I, —R 4a , —O − , —OR 4a , —SR 4a , —S − , —NR 4a R 5a , —CF 3 , —CN, —OCN, —SCN, —NO, —NO 2 , —N 3 , —S(O) 2 O − , —S(O) 2 OH, —S(O) 2 R 4a , —OS(O 2 )O − , —OS(O) 2 R 4a , —P(O)(O) 2 , —P(O)(OR 4a )(O − ), —OP(O)(OR 4a )(OR 5a ), —C(O)R 4a , —C(S)R 4a , —C(O)OR 4a , —C(O)NR 4a R 5a , —C(O)O − , —C(S)OR 4a , —NR 6a C(O)NR 4a R 5a , —NR 6a C(S)NR 4a R 5a , —NR 7a C(NR 6a )NR 5a R 4a or —C(NR 6a )NR 5a R 4a , or tethered to a polymer;

R 4a , R 5a , R 6a and R 7a are independently hydrogen, alkyl, substituted alkyl, cycloalkyl, substituted cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, substituted cycloheteroalkyl, aryl, substituted aryl, heteroaryl or substituted heteroaryl, or optionally R 4 and R 5 together with the nitrogen atom to which they are bonded form a cycloheteroalkyl or substituted cycloheteroalkyl ring;

Z is O, S or NH;

Y is —NR 5 —, —O— or —S—;

n is an integer from 1 to 10;

each R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 5 is independently hydrogen, alkyl, substituted alkyl, aryl or substituted aryl, or R 1 and R 2 together with the carbon to which they are attached form a cycloalkyl or substituted cycloalkyl group, or two R 1 or R 2 groups on adjacent carbon atoms, together with the carbon atoms to which they are attached, form a cycloalkyl or substituted cycloalkyl group;

each R 6 is independently hydrogen, alkyl, substituted alkyl, aryl, substituted aryl, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, heteroalkyl, substituted heteroalkyl, heteroaryl, substituted heteroaryl, heteroarylalkyl, substituted heteroarylalkyl, or optionally, R 6 and R 7 together with the atoms to which they are bonded form a cycloheteroalkyl or substituted cycloheteroalkyl ring;

R 7 is hydrogen, alkyl, substituted alkyl, acyl, substituted acyl, alkoxycarbonyl, substituted alkoxycarbonyl, aryl, substituted aryl, arylalkyl or substituted arylalkyl;

p is an integer from 1 to 5;

each W is independently —NR 8 —, —O— or —S—;

each R 8 is independently hydrogen, alkyl, substituted alkyl, aryl or substituted aryl, or optionally, each R 6 and R 8 independently together with the atoms to which they are bonded form a cycloheteroalkyl or substituted cycloheteroalkyl ring; and

A − represents an anion.

2 . The compound of claim 1 , in which R 1 R 2 R 3 N + — is a residue of hydrocodone, oxycodone, hydromorphone or oxymorphone.

3 . The compound of claim 1 , in which R 1 R 2 R 3 N + — is a residue of hydrocodone, hydromorphone or oxymorphone.

4 . The compound of claim 1 , in which R 1a and R 2a each represents hydrogen.

5 . The compound of claim 1 , in which Ar represents a 1,2-phenylene or 1,4-phenylene group that is unsubstituted or substituted by one or two substituents selected independently from a halogen atom; a (1-4C)alkyl group; a (1-4C)alkoxy group; a carboxy group; and a hydroxy(1-4C)alkyl group.

6 . The compound of claim 5 , in which Ar represents 1,4-phenylene.

7 . The compound of claim 1 , in which Z represents O.

8 . The compound of claim 1 , in which Y is NR 5 and R 5 is hydrogen or alkyl.

9 . The compound of claim 1 , in which n is 2 or 3.

10 . The compound of claim 1 , in which R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 5 and R 8 are independently hydrogen or alkyl.

11 . The compound of claim 1 , in which each R 6 is independently hydrogen, alkyl, substituted alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, heteroalkyl, heteroarylalkyl, substituted heteroarylalkyl, or optionally, R 6 and R 7 together with the atoms to which they are bonded form a cycloheteroalkyl or substituted cycloheteroalkyl ring.

12 . The compound of claim 1 , in which R 7 is hydrogen, alkyl, acyl or alkoxycarbonyl.

13 . The compound of claim 1 , in which Y is NR 5 , n is 2 or 3, p is 1 or 2, R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 5 and R 7 are independently hydrogen or alkyl, each R 6 is independently hydrogen, alkyl, substituted alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, heteroalkyl, heteroarylalkyl, substituted heteroarylalkyl or optionally, R 6 and R 7 together with the atoms to which they are bonded form a cycloheteroalkyl or substituted cycloheteroalkyl ring.

14 . The compound of claim 1 , in which Y is NR 5 , n is 2, p is 1, R 1 and R 2 are hydrogen, R 3 and R 5 are independently methyl or hydrogen and R 6 is independently hydrogen, alkyl, substituted alkyl, aryl, arylalkyl, substituted arylalkyl, heteroalkyl, heteroarylalkyl, substituted heteroarylalkyl or optionally, R 6 and R 7 together with the atoms to which they are bonded form a cycloheteroalkyl or substituted cycloheteroalkyl ring or optionally R 7 is hydrogen.

15 . The compound of claim 1 , in which Y is NR 5 , n is 2, R 1 and R 2 are hydrogen, R 3 and R 5 are independently methyl or hydrogen, R 7 is hydrogen and R 6 is —CH 2 (CH 2 ) 3 NH 2 or —CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 NHC(NH)NH 2 .

16 . The compound of claim 1 , in which Y is —NR 5 ; R 5 is (1-4C)alkyl;

R 1 and R 2 are each hydrogen; n is 2 or 3; R 3 is hydrogen or (1-4C)alkyl; W is NH;

R 6 is H, —CH 3 , —CH 2 CH(CH 3 ) 2 , —CH 2 (CH 2 ) 3 NH 2 , —CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 NHC(NH)NH 2 , —CH 2 C(═O)NH 2 , —CH 2 COOH, —CH 2 (p-hydroxyphenyl) or CH 2 CH 2 COOH;

R 7 is hydrogen, (1-6C)alkanoyl or benzoyl unsubstituted or substituted by methylenedioxy or one or two substituents selected from (1-4C)alkyl, (1-4C)alkoxy and halogen; and p is 1 or 2.

17 . The compound of claim 1 , in which Y is —NR 5 ; R 5 is (1-4C)alkyl;

R 1 and R 2 are each hydrogen; n is 2 or 3; R 3 is hydrogen or (1-4C)alkyl; W is NH;

R 6 is hydrogen, —CH 2 (CH 2 ) 3 NH 2 , —CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 NHC(NH)NH 2 or CH 2 CH 2 COOH;

R 7 is hydrogen, (1-6C)alkanoyl or benzoyl unsubstituted or substituted by methylenedioxy or one or two substituents selected from (1-4C)alkyl, (1-4C)alkoxy and halogen; and p is 1 or 2.

18 . The compound of claim 1 , in which R 4 is a residue of a D or L-amino acid selected from alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glycine, glutamine, glutamic acid, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan, tyrosine, lysine and valine; a residue of a dipeptide or tripeptide composed of two or three L-amino acid residues selected independently from alanine, arginine, asparagine, aspartic acid, cysteine, glycine, glutamine, glutamic acid, histidine, isoleucine, leucine, methionine, phenylalanine, proline, serine, threonine, tryptophan, tyrosine, lysine and valine; or a residue of an N-acyl derivative thereof.

19 . The compound of claim 18 , which is a residue of an L-amino acid.

20 . The compound of claim 18 , in which R 4 is arginine, N-acetylarginine, N-t-butanoylarginine, N-benzoylarginine, N-piperonylarginine, N-glycinylarginine, N-acetylglycinylarginine, alanine, N-acetylalanine, asparagine, N-acetylasparagine, aspartic acid, N-acetylaspartic acid, lysine, N-acetyllysine, leucine, N-acetylleucine, glutamic acid, tyrosine, N-acetyltyrosine, proline or N-glycinylproline.

21 . The compound of claim 18 , in which R 4 is arginine, N-acetylarginine, N-t-butanoylarginine, N-benzoylarginine, N-piperonylarginine, N-glycinylarginine, lysine, glutamic acid, proline or N-glycinylproline.

22 . The compound of claim 1 , which is selected from pharmaceutically acceptable salts of:

hydrocodone N-(4-(N′-methyl-N′-(2-L-leucinylaminoethyl)aminocarbonyloxy)phenylmethyl;

hydrocodone N-(4-(N′-methyl-N′-(2-arginylaminoethyl)aminocarbonyloxy)phenylmethyl;

hydrocodone N-(4-(N′-methyl-N′-(2-lysinylaminoethyl)aminocarbonyloxy)phenylmethyl;

hydrocodone N-(4-(N′-methyl-N′-(2-glycinylarginylaminoethyl)aminocarbonyloxy)-phenylmethyl; and

hydrocodone N-(4-(N′-methyl-N′-(2-L-asparaginylaminoethyl)aminocarbonyloxy)phenylmethyl.

23 . A process for the preparation of a compound as claimed in claim 1 , which comprises reacting a compound of formula (V)

M 1 -(C(R 1a )(R 2a ))—Ar—Z—C(O)—Y—(C(R 1 )(R 2 )) n —N—(R 3 )(R 4 )  (V)

or a protected derivative thereof, in which M 1 represents a leaving atom or group, such as a chlorine atom, with an opioid, followed by removing any protecting groups and, if desired, acylating a compound of formula (II) in which R 7 (in the group R 4 as defined hereinabove) represents a hydrogen atom and/or forming a pharmaceutically acceptable salt.

24 . A pharmaceutical composition, which comprises a compound as claimed in claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable vehicle.

25 . A method of providing a patient with post administration-activated, controlled release of an opioid, which comprises administering to said patient a compound as claimed in claim 1 .

26 . (canceled)

27 . (canceled)

28 . (canceled)

29 . The compound of claim 1 , in which R 1 R 2 R 3 N + — is a residue of hydrocodone.

30 . The compound of claim 1 , in which R 4 is arginine, N-acetylarginine, lysine, or N-acetyllysine.

31 . The compound of claim 1 , wherein

R 1 R 2 R 3 N + — represents a residue of an opioid selected from hydrocodone, oxycodone, oxymorphone, and hydromorphone residue;

R 1a and R 2a is hydrogen;

Ar is 1,4-phenylene;

Z is O;

Y is —NR 5 ;

R 5 is (1-4C)alkyl;

R 1 and R 2 are independently selected from hydrogen and (1-4C)alkyl;

n is 2 or 3;

R 3 is hydrogen or (1-4C)alkyl;

R 4 is selected from arginine, N-acetylarginine, N-t-butanoylarginine, N-benzoylarginine, N-piperonylarginine, N-glycinylarginine, N-acetylglycinylarginine, alanine, N-acetylalanine, asparagine, N-acetylasparagine, aspartic acid, N-acetylaspartic acid, lysine, N-acetyllysine, leucine, N-acetylleucine, glutamic acid, tyrosine, N-acetyltyrosine, proline and N-glycinylproline;

A − is Cl − .

32 . The compound of claim 31 , wherein R 4 is selected from arginine, N-acetylarginine, N-t-butanoylarginine, N-benzoylarginine, N-piperonylarginine, N-glycinylarginine, lysine, glutamic acid, proline and N-glycinylproline.