Structure-Based Macrocycle Design in Small-Molecule Drug Discovery and Simple Metrics To Identify Opportunities for Macrocyclization of Small-Molecule Ligands

Interest is growing in the use of macrocycles in pharmaceutical discovery. Macrocylization may provide a gateway to an expanded chemical space for small-molecule drug discovery, and this could be beneficial in prosecuting difficult targets, e.g., protein–protein interactions. Most, but not all, macrocycle drugs are derived from natural products. Studies on synthetic drug-like small-molecule macrocycles are limited, and our current understanding of macrocycle drugs is similarly limited. Following some background discussion, we review several examples of the structure-based design of synthetic macrocycles. Our opinion is that in conformationally suitable systems macrocycles are an analog class worthy of consideration. We then summarize an approach for the initial evaluation of molecules as candidates for macrocyclization.