Double-liver-targeting phosphoramidate and phosphonoamidate prodrugs

1. A compound of formula:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein:

X is oxygen (O) or —CH 2 —;

Y is a nucleoside, acyclonucleoside, or C-nucleoside moiety;

R′, R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, aryl, alkynyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, heterocyclyl, and heteroaryl groups, wherein said heterocyclyl and heteroaryl group each comprises one to three heteroatoms independently selected from O, S, and N, or alternatively, R 2 and R 3 , together with the carbon atom to which they are attached, form an optionally substituted 3- to 8-membered ring;

R 4 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, and substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, aryl, alkynyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, heterocyclyl, and heteroaryl groups, metal ions, and ammonium ions;

Ar is substituted C 6 -C 10 aryl or optionally substituted 5- to 10-membered heteroaryl comprising one to three heteroatoms independently selected from O, S, and N; and

the “linker” is selected from a bond and optionally substituted C 1 -C 3 alkylene, vinyl, ethynyl, arylene, and heteroarylene, wherein the heteroarylene comprises one to three heteroatoms independently selected from O, S, and N.

2. The compound of claim 1 , having formula:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable prodrug, salt, or solvate thereof, wherein:

R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , X and Y are defined as in claim 1 ;

n is 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5;

R 5 at each occurrence is independently selected from halogen (F, Cl, Br, I) and optionally substituted acyloxy, acyl- NH—, methoxy, alkyl, alkyloxy, alkylamino, cycloalkyl, cycloalkyloxy, cycloalkylamino, aryl, aryloxy, arylamino, and arylalkyl.

3. The compound of claim 2 , having the formula:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable prodrug, salt, or solvate thereof, wherein:

R 4 , X and Y are defined as in claim 2 .

4. The compound of claim 3 , wherein X is —O— or —CH 2 —, having the formula:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable prodrug, salt, or solvate thereof, wherein:

R 4 and Y are defined as in claim 3 .

5. The compound of claim 3 , wherein X is —O— or —CH 2 —, having the formula:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable prodrug, salt, or solvate thereof, wherein:

R 4 and Y are defined as in claim 3 .

6. The compound of claim 1 , wherein Y is a nucleoside moiety, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof.

7. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 4 is M + , and Y is a nucleoside moiety, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein M + is selected from the group consisting of NH 4 + , K + , Na + , Ca 2+ , and Mg 2+ .

8. The compound of claim 1 , wherein X is O, and Y is a nucleoside moiety of formula:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein:

“A” is selected from the group consisting of O, S, CH 2 , C═CH 2 , and CF 2 ;

R 6 and R 7 are independently selected from H, OH, CH 3 O, F, Cl, Br, I, CN, N 3 , methyl, ethyl, vinyl, ethynyl, chlorovinyl, fluoromethyl, difluoromethyl, and trifluoromethyl, or alternatively, R 6 and together form a vinylidene group

 wherein R 11 and R 12 are each independently hydrogen, halogen, methyl, or N 3 ;

R 8 is selected from the group consisting of H, methyl, ethyl, vinyl, ethynyl, chlorovinyl, fluoromethyl, difluoromethyl, and trifluoromethyl;

R 9 is selected from the group consisting of H, CN, N 3 , methyl, ethyl, vinyl, ethynyl, chlorovinyl, fluoromethyl, difluoromethyl, and trifluoromethyl;

R 10 is selected from the group consisting of H, OH, F, cyano, and azido;

or alternatively, one of R 8 or R 10 together with one of R 6 or R 7 forms a bond;

“B” is a pyrimidine or purine moiety selected from formulae B-1 and B-2:

wherein X 2 is selected from the group consisting of H, NH 2 , NHMe, NMe 2 , and halogen (I, Br, Cl, F);

X 4 is NH 2 or OH;

X 5 is selected from the group consisting of halogen (I, Br, Cl, F), OH, NH 2 , methyl, vinyl, alkyl, 2-bromovinyl, and ethynyl;

X 6 is selected from the group consisting of H, OH, alkyloxy, aryloxy, alkyloxy, alkylthio,arylthio, cyclic alkylthio, thienyl, furyl, alkylamino, dialkylamino, arylamino, aryl alkylamino, cyclic alkylamino, and cyclopropylamino;

Z is nitrogen (N) or CX 7 ; and

X 7 is selected from the group consisting of H, vinyl, ethynyl, and halogen;

wherein any amino (NH 2 ) and hydroxyl (OH) groups are optionally protected.

9. The compound of claim 8 , wherein Y is a nucleoside moiety:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein:

B, A, and R 9 are defined as in claim 8 ; and

R 11 and R 12 are independently selected from H, N 3 , F, CN, CH 3 , alkyl, and vinyl.

10. The compound of claims 1 , wherein X is O, Y is a nucleoside moiety selected from formulae:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein:

“B” is a pyrimidine or purine moiety selected from formulae B-1 and B-2:

wherein X 2 is selected from the group consisting of H, NH 2 , NHMe, NMe 2 , and halogen (I, Br, Cl, F);

X 4 is NH 2 or OH;

X 5 is selected from the group consisting of halogen (I, Br, Cl, F), OH, NH 2 , methyl, vinyl, alkyl, 2-bromovinyl, and ethynyl;

X 6 is selected from the group consisting of H, OH, alkyloxy, aryloxy, alkyloxy, alkylthio,arylthio, cyclic alkylthio, thienyl, furyl, alkylamino, dialkylamino, arylamino, aryl alkylamino, cyclic alkylamino, and cyclopropylamino;

Z is nitrogen (N) or CX 7 ; and

X 7 is selected from the group consisting of H, vinyl, ethynyl, and halogen;

wherein any amino (NH 2 ) and hydroxyl (OH) groups are optionally protected.

11. The compound of claim 1 , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein X is CH 2 , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof.

12. The compound of claim 1 , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein X is O, and Y is a moiety of an acyclic nucleoside selected from the group consisting of acyclovir, ganciclovir and pencyclovir.

13. The compound of claim 1 , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein X is O, and Y is a moiety of a C-nucleoside comprising a nucleic base and a sugar moiety connected with each other through a carbon-carbon bond.

14. The compound of claim 8 , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein the —X—Y is a moiety of a compound selected from compounds of formulas:

15. The compound of claim 1 selected from the group consisting of formulas:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof.

16. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound of claim 1 , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent.

17. A method of treating a viral infection or cancer, comprising administration of a compound of claim 1 , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, to a patient in need of the treatment.

18. A process for preparing a compound of claim 3 , or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, comprising the steps of:

a) reacting a compound of formula:

wherein the LV is a leaving group and R 4 is isopropyl or defined as in claim 3 , with pentafluorophenol in the presence of a base to give a diastereomerically enriched compound of formula:

 and

b) reacting diastereomerically enriched compound obtained from step a) with a nucleoside in the presence of a base to give the compound of claim 3 in ester or salt form selected from formulas:

wherein R 4 is isopropyl or defined as in claim 3 .

19. A compound useful for preparing the compound of claim 1 , selected from the group consisting of formulas:

wherein LV is a leaving group, and R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 and n are defined as in claim 1 .

20. A method of enhancing bioavailability and/or liver-targeting property of an alcohol drug, comprising protecting at least one hydroxyl group of said alcohol-containing drug with a phosphoramidate moiety of formula:

wherein:

R′, R 1 , R 2 , and R 3 are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, aryl, alkynyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, heterocyclyl, and heteroaryl groups, wherein the heterocyclyl and heteroaryl group each comprises one to three heteroatoms independently selected from O, S, and N, or, alternatively, R 2 and R 3 together with the carbon atom to which they are attached form an optionally substituted 3- to 8-membered ring;

R 4 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, aryl, alkynyl, alkenyl, cycloalkyl, heterocyclyl, and heteroaryl groups, metal ions, and ammonium ions;

Ar is substituted C 6 -C 10 aryl or optionally substituted 5- to 10-membered heteroaryl comprising one to three heteroatoms independently selected from O, S, and N; and

the “linker” is selected from a bond and optionally substituted C 1 -C 3 alkylene, vinyl, ethynyl, arylene and heteroarylene, wherein the heteroaryl comprises one to three heteroatoms independently selected from O, S, and N.