Exploring C2 and N 6 Substituent Effects on Truncated 4'-Thioadenosine Derivatives as Dual A 2A and A 3 Adenosine Receptor Ligands

Based on high binding affinity of truncated 2-hexynyl-4'-thioadenosine (3 a) at both A adenosine receptor (AR) and A AR, we explored structure-activity relationship (SAR) of the C2-substitution by altering chain length of the 2-hexynyl moiety, thereby evaluating the hydrophobic pocket size. A series of truncated N -substituted 4'-thioadenosine derivatives with C2-alkynyl substitution were successfully synthesized from D-mannose, using a palladium-catalyzed Sonogashira coupling reaction as the key step, whose structures were confirmed by the X-ray crystal structure of 4 h. As the size of the alkynyl group at the C2-position increased, the binding affinity improved; however, when the substituted group was larger than hexynyl, the binding affinity decreased. The introduction of a bulky hydrophobic group such as 3-halobenzyl group at the free N -amino group decreased the binding affinity at hA AR. These results confirm our previous findings that a free amino group at N -position and longer hydrophobic chain at C2-position are essential for hA AR binding affinity. The introduction of a bulky hydrophobic group at free N -amino group maintained the binding affinity at hA AR. The binding mode of truncated 2-substituted-4'-thioadenosine derivatives to hA and hA AR were predicted by a molecular docking study.