Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 5-Oxo-1,4,5,6,7,8 Hexahydroquinoline Derivatives as Selective Cyclooxygenase-2 Inhibitors

A group of regioisomeric 5-oxo-1,4,5,6,7,8 hexahydroquinoline derivatives possessing a COX-2 SO2Me pharmacophore at the para position of the C-2 or C-4 phenyl ring, in conjunction with a C-4 or C-2 phenyl (4-H) or substituted-phenyl ring (4-F,4-Cl,4-Br,4-OMe,4-Me, 4-NO2), were designed for evaluation as selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. These target 5-oxo-1,4,5,6,7,8 hexahydroquinolines were synthesized via a Hansch condensation reaction. In vitro COX-1/COX-2 isozyme inhibition structure-activity studies identified 7,8-dihydro-7,7-dimethyl-2-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-(4-(methylsulfonyl)phenyl)quinolin-5(1H,4H,6H)-one (9c) as a potent COX-2 inhibitor (IC50 = 0.17 microM) with a high COX-2 selectivity index (S.I. = 97.6) comparable to the reference drug celecoxib (COX-2 IC50 = 0.05 microM; COX-2 S.I= 405). A molecular modeling study where 9c was docked in active site of COX-2 showed that the p-SO2Me substituent on the C-2 phenyl ring is inserted into the secondary COX-2 binding site. The structure activity data acquired indicate that the position of the COX-2 SO2Me pharmacophore and type of substituent are important for COX-2 inhibitory activity.