Journal : Bioorg. Med. Chem.
Title : Azido-iodo-N-benzyl derivatives of threo-methylphenidate (Ritalin, Concerta): Rational design, synthesis, pharmacological evaluation, and dopamine transporter photoaffinity labeling.
Year : 2011
Volume : 19
Issue : 1
First Page : 504
Last Page : 512
Authors : Lapinsky DJ, Velagaleti R, Yarravarapu N, Liu Y, Huang Y, Surratt CK, Lever JR, Foster JD, Acharya R, Vaughan RA, Deutsch HM.
Abstract : In contrast to tropane-based compounds such as benztropine and cocaine, non-tropane-based photoaffinity ligands for the dopamine transporter (DAT) are relatively unexplored. Towards addressing this knowledge gap, ligands were synthesized in which the piperidine nitrogen of 3- and 4-iodomethylphenidate was substituted with a benzyl group bearing a photoreactive azide. Analog (±)-3a demonstrated modest DAT affinity and a radioiodinated version was shown to bind covalently to rat striatal DAT and hDAT expressed in cultured cells. Co-incubation of (±)-3a with nonradioactive d-(+)-methylphenidate or (-)-2-β-carbomethoxy-3-β-(4-fluorophenyl)tropane (β-CFT, WIN-35,428, a cocaine analog) blocked DAT labeling. Compound (±)-3a represents the first successful example of a DAT photoaffinity ligand based on the methylphenidate scaffold. Such ligands are expected to assist in mapping non-tropane ligand-binding pockets within plasma membrane monoamine transporters.