Tetracyclic heteroatom containing derivatives useful as sex steroid hormone receptor modulators

1. A method of treating a disorder mediated by one or more sex steroid hormone receptors, selected from the group consisting of hot flashes, vaginal dryness, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hyperlipidemia, loss of cognitive function, hormone sensitive cancers, hormone sensitive hyperplasia, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, osteoarthritis, prostate carcinoma, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), hirsitutism, alopecia, anorexia nervosa, breast cancer, acne, AIDS, cachexia, endometriosis, myoma, dysfunctional bleeding, tumors containing steroid receptors, for male contraception, for female contraception, for male performance enhancement, and for hormone replacement comprising administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of 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 —O—; R 1 is hydrogen or C 1-4 alkyl;

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

provided further that when X is —O—;

is phenyl; a is 0; and b is 0; then R 1 is other than —C 1-4 alkyl-N(C 1-4 alkyl) 2 or —C 1-4 alkyl-piperidinyl;

provided further that when X is —O—; R 1 is hydrogen;

is pyridyl or thienyl; a is 0; and b is 1 to 2; then R 2 is other than oxo, halogen or —C(O)O—C 1-4 alkyl;

provided further that when X is —O—; R 1 is hydrogen or C 1-4 alkyl;

is pyrrolyl; a is 0; and b is 1 or 2; then R 2 is other than C 1-4 alkyl or —C(O)O—C 1-4 alkyl;

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. The method of claim 1 , wherein the disorder mediated one or more sex steroid hormone receptors in selected from the group consisting of hormone sensitive cancers, hormone sensitive hyperplasia, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, prostate carcinoma, benign prostatic hyperplasia BPH breast cancer, and tumors containing steroid receptors.