Alkynyl Benzoxazines and Dihydroquinazolines as Cysteine Targeting Covalent Warheads and Their Application in Identification of Selective Irreversible Kinase Inhibitors

Kirsten McAulay, Emily A Hoyt, Morgan Thomas, Marianne Schimpl, Michael Steven Bodnarchuk, Hilary Jane Lewis, Derek Barratt, Deepa Bhavsar, David M. Robinson, Michael J. Deery, Derek Ogg, Gonçalo J.L. Bernardes, Richard A Ward, Michael J. Waring, and Jason Grant Kettle
Journal of the American Chemical Society 2020
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b13391

With a resurgence in interest in covalent drugs, there is need to identify new moieties capable of cysteine bond formation that are differentiated from commonly employed systems such as acrylamide. Herein, we report on the discovery of new alkynyl benzoxazine and dihydroquinazoline moieties capable of covalent reaction with cysteine. Their utility as alternative electrophilic warheads for chemical biological probes and drug molecules is demonstrated through site-selective protein modification and incorporation into kinase drug scaffolds. A potent covalent inhibitor of JAK3 kinase was identified with superior selectivity across the kinome and improvements in in vitro pharmacokinetic profile relative to the related acrylamide-based inhibitor. In addition, the use of a novel heterocycle as cysteine reactive warhead is employed to target Cys788 in c-KIT where acrylamide has previously failed to form covalent interactions. These new reactive and selective heterocyclic warheads supplement the current repertoire for cysteine covalent modification whilst avoiding some of the limitations generally associated with established moieties.