Inhibitors of protein methyltransferase DOT1L and methods of use thereof

1. A compound of Formula (IIa) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof:

wherein,

A is O or CH 2 ;

each of G and J, independently, is H, halo, C(O)OH, C(O)O—C 1 -C 6 alkyl or OR a , R a being H, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C(O)—C 1 -C 6 alkyl, or silyl, wherein C(O)O—C 2 -C 6 alkyl, C 1 -C 6 alkyl or C(O)—C 1 -C 6 alkyl is optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of halo, cyano hydroxyl, carboxyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, amino, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, and C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl;

each X independently is N or CR x , in which R x is H, halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano, or R S1 , R S1 being amino, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, or 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl, and R S1 being optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, amino, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, and 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl;

L 1 is N(Y), S, SO, or SO 2 ;

L 2 is CO or absent when L 1 is N(Y) or L 2 is absent when L 1 is S, SO, or SO 2 , in which Y is H, R d , SO 2 R d , or COR d when L 2 is absent, or Y is H or R d when L 2 is CO, R d being C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, or 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl, and R d being optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, C 1 -C 6 alkylsulfonyl, amino, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, and 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl and with C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, or 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl further optionally substituted with C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, C(O)OH, C(O)O—C 1 -C 6 alkyl, OC(O)—C 1 -C 6 alkyl, cyano, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, amino, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, or 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl;

each of R 1 , R 2 , R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 6 , and R 7 , independently, is H, halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano, R S2 , R S2 being amino, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, or C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, and each R S2 being optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, amino, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, and 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl;

R 8 is H, halo or R S3 , R S3 being C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, or C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, and R S3 being optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano amino, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, and C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl; and

Q is H, NH 2 , NHR b , NR b R c , R b , ═O, OH, or OR b , in which each of R b and R c independently is C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 7-membered heterocycloalkyl, 5 to 10-membered heteroaryl, or -M 1 -T 1 in which M 1 is a bond or C 1 -C 6 alkyl linker optionally substituted with halo, cyano, hydroxyl or C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl and T 1 is C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, or 5 to 10-membered heteroaryl, or R b and R c , together with the N atom to which they attach, form 4 to 7-membered heterocycloalkyl having 0 or 1 additional heteroatoms to the N atom optionally substituted with C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, C(O)OH, C(O)O—C 1 -C 6 alkyl, OC(O)—C 1 -C 6 alkyl, cyano, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, amino, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, or 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl, and each of R b , R c , and T 1 is optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, amino, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, and 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl;

R 9 is

in which:

each of R e , R f , R g , and R h , independently is -M 2 -T 2 , in which M 2 is a bond, SO 2 , SO, S, CO, CO 2 , O, O—C 1 -C 4 alkyl linker, C 1 -C 4 alkyl linker, NH, or N(R t ), R t being C 1 -C 6 alkyl, and T 2 is H, halo, or R S4 , R S4 being C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 8-membered heterocycloalkyl, or 5 to 10-membered heteroaryl, and each of O—C 1 -C 4 alkyl linker, C 1 -C 4 alkyl linker, R t , and R S4 being optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano, C 1 -C 6 alkyl, C 2 -C 6 alkenyl, C 2 -C 6 alkynyl, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, amino, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, and 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl, R i is H or C 1 -C 6 alkyl optionally substituted with one or more substituents selected from the group consisting of halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano, C 1 -C 6 alkoxyl, amino, mono-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, di-C 1 -C 6 alkylamino, C 3 -C 8 cycloalkyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, 4 to 6-membered heterocycloalkyl, and 5 to 6-membered heteroaryl;

q is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4;

m is 0, 1, or 2; and

n is 0, 1, or 2.

2. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 9 induces a residence time of the compound greater than 20 seconds in a complex formed of the compound and human DOT1L.

3. The compound of claim 2 , wherein the SAM binding pocket of human DOT1L is characterized by the crystallography coordinates of one or more human DOT1L amino acids Val135, Thr139, Asp161, Gly163, Gln168, Glu 186, Asp222, Phe223, and Asn241, according to Table S1 or S2.

4. The compound of claim 2 , wherein the hydrophobic pocket domain of human DOT1L is characterized by the crystallography coordinates of human DOT1L amino acids Leu143, Met147, Phe239, and Tyr 312, according to Table S1 or S2.

5. The compound of claim 2 , wherein the binding affinity (K i ) of the compound to human DOT1L is not greater than 50 μM.

6. The compound of claim 1 , wherein one or more of R e , R f , R g , and R h are selected from the group consisting of unsubstituted or substituted t-butyl, CF 3 , cyclohexyl, C 6 -C 10 aryl, and 5 to 10-membered heteroaryl.

7. The compound of claim 6 , wherein the one or more of R e , R f , R g , and R h are t-butyl.

8. The compound of claim 6 , wherein R 9 is selected from the group consisting of

9. The compound of claim 1 , being of Formula (IIc) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof:

10. The compound of claim 9 , being of Formula (IIIb) or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or ester thereof:

wherein R 3 is H, halo, hydroxyl, carboxyl, cyano, or R S2 , and q is 0, 1, 2, 3, or 4.

11. The compound of claim 10 , wherein R 9 is

12. The compound of claim 1 , having molecular dimensions compatible with the shape of a hydrophobic pocket domain of DOT1L characterized by the crystallography coordinates of human DOT1L amino acids Leu143, Met147, Phe239, and Tyr 312, according to Table S1 or S2, wherein the compound has a biochemical IC 50 for DOT1L of less than 100 nM.

13. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

14. A method for treating cancer comprising administrating a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of claim 1 to a subject in need thereof.