Indolyl-substituted pyrazino-quinolines and their use for the treatment of cancer

1. A compound of formula I,

wherein: X and Y independently represent —O— or —N(R a )—;

R a represents H or C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms;

R 1 and R 2 independently represent H, C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms, —C(O)C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms, or —CH 2 -phenyl wherein the phenyl moiety is optionally substituted by one or more substituents selected from halo and C 1-3 alkyl or, R 1 and R 2 may together represent a C 1-2 alkylene linker group;

R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 5a , R 6 , R 7 , R 8 , R 9 , and R 10 independently represent H, halo, —OR b , —N(R c )R d , C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms, or —CH 2 -phenyl wherein the phenyl moiety is optionally substituted by one or more substituents selected from halo and C 1-3 alkyl; or

any two adjacent R 6 , R 7 , R 8 , and R 9 groups may be linked together to form a further 3- to 8- membered ring optionally containing one to three double bonds, optionally containing one to four heteroatoms, and wherein the ring is itself optionally substituted by one or more substituents selected from halo and C 1-4 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms;

R b represents H, C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms, or —C(O)C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms;

R c and R d independently represent H or C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms;

R 11 and R 12 independently represent H, C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms, —C(O)C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms, phenyl optionally substituted by one or more substituents selected from halo and C 1-3 alkyl, or —CH 2 -phenyl wherein the phenyl moiety is optionally substituted by one or more substituents selected from halo and C 1-3 alkyl;

R 13 and R 14 independently represent H, C 1-6 alkyl optionally substituted by one or more fluoro atoms, or —CH 2 -phenyl wherein the phenyl moiety is optionally substituted by one or more substituents selected from halo and C 1-3 alkyl, or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt, ester, stereoisomer or tautomer thereof.

2. The compound of claim 1 , or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt, ester, stereoisomer or tautomer thereof, provided that the compound is not:

3. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 1 and R 2 independently represent: H; unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl; unsubstituted —C(O)C 1-6 alkyl; unsubstituted —CH 2 -phenyl; or, R 1 and R 2 may together represent a C 1-2 alkylene linker group.

4. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 3 , R 4 , R 5 , R 5a , R 6 , R 7 , R 8 , R 9 , and R 10 independently represent: H; halo; —OR b ; unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl; or unsubstituted —CH 2 -phenyl.

5. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R b represents H or unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl and/or R c and R d independently represent H or unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl.

6. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 11 and R 12 independently represent: H; unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl; or unsubstituted phenyl and/or R 13 and R 14 independently represent H or unsubstituted C 1-6 alkyl.

7. A pharmaceutical formulation including a compound of claim 1 , or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt, ester, stereoisomer or tautomer thereof, in an admixture with a pharmaceutically-acceptable adjuvant, diluent or carrier.

8. A pharmaceutical composition comprising:

(A) a compound of claim 1 ; and

(B) one or more therapeutic agents,

wherein each of components (A) and (B) is formulated separately or in an admixture with a pharmaceutically-acceptable adjuvant, diluent or carrier.

9. A process for the preparation of a compound of claim 1 comprising one of the following methods:

(i) a method comprising reacting a compound of formula I in which R 1 and R 2 both represent hydrogen, with a compound of formula II,

L 1 -R 1/2 -L 2   II

wherein L 1 and L 2 independently represent leaving groups selected from a sulfonate group, chloro, bromo, or iodo, and R 1/2 represents C 1-2 alkylene;

(ii) a method comprising a) reacting a compound of formula III,

or single enantiomer thereof, wherein L 3 represents a leaving group selected from a sulfonate group, chloro, bromo, or iodo, with a compound of formula IV,

to produce a compound of formula V; and

b) intramolecularly cyclizing the compound of formula V,

or a single diastereomer thereof, or, a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt thereof to produce compounds of formula I; and

(iii) a method comprising reacting a corresponding compound of formula I in which R 11 and/or R 12 represents hydrogen, with a compound of (or two different compounds of) formula VI,

R 11/12 -L 4   VI

wherein R 11/12 represents R 11 or R 12 as defined in claim 1 , provided that it does not represent hydrogen; and L 4 represents a leaving group selected from a sulfonate group, chloro, bromo, or iodo.

10. A process for the preparation of a pharmaceutical formulation of claim 7 comprising bringing into association a compound of formula I, or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt, ester, stereoisomer or tautomer thereof with a pharmaceutically-acceptable adjuvant, diluent or carrier.

11. A process for the preparation of the pharmaceutical composition of claim 8 comprising bringing a compound of formula I, or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt, ester, stereoisomer or tautomer thereof, into association with the one or more therapeutic agents and at least one pharmaceutically-acceptable adjuvant, diluent or carrier.

12. A method of modulating vascular endothelial growth factor kinase activity in a subject comprising the administration of a therapeutically effective amount of a compound of claim 1 , or a pharmaceutically-acceptable salt, ester, stereoisomer or tautomer thereof.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the subject has a cancer selected from the group consisting of hemangioma, hepatocellular adenoma, cavernous haemangioma, focal nodular hyperplasia, acoustic neuromas, neurofibroma, bile duct adenoma, bile duct cystanoma, fibroma, lipomas, leiomyomas, mesotheliomas, teratomas, myxomas, nodular regenerative hyperplasia, trachomas, pyogenic granulomas, leukemia, myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), prostate cancer, breast cancer, skin cancer, bone cancer, liver cancer, lung cancer, brain cancer, cancer of the larynx, bladder, gall bladder, ovary, cervix, pancreas, rectum, parathyroid, thyroid, esophagus, adrenal, neural tissue, head and neck, colon, stomach, bronchi, kidneys, basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma of both ulcerating and papilllary type, metastatic skin carcinoma, osteo sarcoma, Ewing's sarcoma, veticulum cell sarcoma, myeloma, giant cell tumor, small-cell lung tumor, non-small cell lung tumor, gallstones, islet cell tumor, primary brain tumor, acute and chronic lymphocytic and granulocytic tumors, hairy-cell tumor, adenoma, hyperplasia, medullary carcinoma, pheochromocytoma, mucosal neuronms, intestinal ganglloneuromas, hyperplastic comeal nerve tumor, marfanoid habitus tumor, Wilm's tumor, seminoma, ovarian tumor, leiomyomater tumor, cervical dysplasia and in situ carcinoma, neuroblastoma, retinoblastoma, soft tissue sarcoma, malignant carcinoid, topical skin lesion, mycosis fungoide, rhabdomyosarcoma, Kaposi's sarcoma, osteogenic and other sarcoma, malignant hypercalcemia, renal cell tumor, polycythermia vera, adenocarcinoma, glioblastoma multiforma, leukemias, lymphomas, malignant melanomas, epidermoid carcinomas, and other carcinomas and sarcomas.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein the subject is a mammal.

15. The method of claim 12 , wherein the administration is oral, intravenous, subcutaneous, buccal, rectal, dermal, nasal, tracheal, bronchial, or sublingual.

16. The method of claim 12 , wherein the daily dosage range is between 0.01 mg to 10 g.

17. The method of claim 12 , wherein the dosage range is between 1 mg/kg to 1000 mg/kg.