Relating Conformational Equilibria to Conformer‐Specific Lipophilicities: New Opportunities in Drug Discovery
Bruno Linclau, Zhong Wang, Benjamin Jeffries, Jérôme Graton, Rodrigo J. Carbajo, Davy Sinnaeve, Jean‐Yves Le Questel, James S. Scott, Elisabetta Chiarparin
Abstract
Abstract Efficient drug discovery is based on a concerted effort in optimizing bioactivity and compound properties such as lipophilicity, and is guided by efficiency metrics that reflect both aspects. While conformation–activity relationships and ligand conformational control are known strategies to improve bioactivity, the use of conformer‐specific lipophilicities (log p ) is much less explored. Here we show how conformer‐specific log p values can be obtained from knowledge of the macroscopic log P value, and of the equilibrium constants between the individual species in water and in octanol. This is illustrated with fluorinated amide rotamers, with integration of rotamer 19 F NMR signals as a facile, direct method to obtain log p values. The difference between log p and log P optimization is highlighted, giving rise to a novel avenue for lipophilicity control in drug discovery.