Tetracyclic heteroatom containing derivatives useful as sex steroid hormone receptor modulators

1. A compound of formula (I)

wherein

X is selected from the group consisting of —S and NR A -; wherein R A is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, C 1-6 alkyl, —C(O)—C 1-6 alkyl, —C 1-4 alkyl-NR C R D and -L 1 -R 4 -(L 2 ) c -R 5 ;

R 1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydroxy, C 1-6 alkyl, —C(O)—C 1-6 alkyl, -C 1-4 alkyl-NR C R D and -L 1 -R 4 -(L 2 ) c -R 5 ;

is a five to seven membered aromatic, partially unsaturated or saturated ring structure, optionally containing one to two heteroatoms independently selected from O, N or S; wherein the heteroatom(s) are not the bridge atom(s);

a is an integer selected from 0 to 2;

R 2 is selected from the group consisting of halogen, hydroxy, carboxy, oxo, cyano, nitro, amino, C 1-4 alkylamino, di(C 1-4 alkyl)amino, C 1-4 alkyl, C 1-4 alkoxy, halogenated C 1-4 alkyl, —O-aralkyl, —C(O)—C 1-4 alkyl, —C(O)O—C 1-4 alkyl, —OC(O)—C 1-4 alkyl, —O—SO 2 —C 1-4 alkyl, —O—SO 2 (halogenated C 1-4 alkyl) and —O—Si(CH 3 ) 2 (t-butyl);

b is an integer selected from 0 to 2;

R 3 is selected from the group consisting of halogen, hydroxy, carboxy, oxo, cyano, nitro, amino, C 1-4 alkylamino, di(C 1-4 alkyl)amino, C 1-4 alkyl, C 1-4 alkoxy, halogenated C 1-4 alkyl, —O-aralkyl, —C(O)—C 1-4 alkyl, —C(O)O—C 1-4 alkyl, —OC(O)—C 1-4 alkyl, —O—SO 2 —C 1-4 alkyl, —O—SO 2 (halogenated C 1-4 alkyl) and —O—Si(CH 3 ) 2 (t-butyl);

L 1 is selected from the group consisting of —CH 2 — and —C(O)—;

R 4 is selected from the group consisting of a five to six membered aryl and a five to six membered heteroaryl

c is an integer selected from 0 to 1;

L 2 is selected from the group consisting of —C 1-4 alkyl-, —C 2-4 alkenyl-, —O—C 1-3 alkyl-, —S—C 1-3 alkyl- and —NR B —C 1-3 alkyl-; wherein R B is selected from hydrogen or C 1-4 alkyl;

R 5 is selected from the group consisting of —NR C R D , —C(O)—C 1-4 alkyl, —CO 2 H, —C(O)O—C 1-4 alkyl and —OC(O)—C 1-4 alkyl;

wherein R C and R D are independently selected from hydrogen or C 1-4 alkyl; alternatively, R C and R D are taken together with the nitrogen atom to which they are bound to form a five to seven membered aromatic, partially aromatic or saturated ring structure; wherein the ring structure optionally contains one to two additional heteroatoms selected from O, N or S;

provided further that R A and R 1 are not each -L 1 -R 4 -(L 2 ) c -R 5 ;

provided further that when a is 0 and b is 0; then one of R A or R 1 is -L 1 -R 4 -(L 2 ) c -R 5 ;

provided further that when R 1 is hydrogen; and

is phenyl; then at least one of a or b is other than 0;

provided further that when X is —NH— or —N(C 1-6 alkyl)-; R 1 is hydrogen or C 1-6 alkyl; a is 0 to 1; R 2 is halogen or —C(O)O—C 1-4 alkyl; b is 1; and R 3 is halogen or —C(O)O—C 1-4 alkyl; then

is other than phenyl;

provided further that when X is —S—; R 1 is hydrogen, C 1-4 alkyl, —C 1-4 alkyl-N(C 1-4 alkyl) 2 , —C 1-4 alkyl-piperidinyl, —C 1-4 alkyl-pyrrolidinyl or —C 1-4 alkyl-morpholinyl;

is phenyl; a is 0 to 2; and b is 0 to 2; then at least one of R 2 or R 3 is other than halogen, C 1-4 alkyl, C 1-4 alkoxy, cyano, nitro, amino or —C(O)O—C 1-4 alkyl;

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

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

3. A pharmaceutical composition made by mixing a compound of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

4. A process for making a pharmaceutical composition comprising mixing a compound of claim 1 and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.