The melting point (MP), an easily accessible physical parameter, has considerable potential for the judgment of drug-like properties. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no useful guidelines for understanding the relationship between the MP and drug-like properties. To this end, we have constructed the largest MP database (experimental value) of globally approved drugs (3164 organic small-molecule drugs) and discontinued drugs (417 organic small-molecule drugs) and subsequently extracted six subdatabases from the whole approved database and two subdatabases from the discontinued database. The MP distribution statistics and analysis of approved drugs reveal five noteworthy observations; moreover, the MP distribution statistics and analysis of discontinued drugs further supplement these criteria. In addition, the comparison of molecular weight (MW) versus MP and Clog P versus MP distributions of different classes of approved drugs indicated that the MWs and Clog P values of most drugs in the optimal MP range were not more than 500 and 5, respectively, implying the MP distribution criterion was in accordance with Lipinski's rule of five.

Farnesoid X receptor (FXR) plays an important role in the regulation of cholesterol, lipid, and glucose metabolism. Recently, several studies on the molecular basis of FXR antagonism have been reported. However, none of these studies employs an FXR antagonist with nonsteroidal scaffold. On the basis of our previously reported FXR antagonist with a trisubstituted isoxazole scaffold, a novel nonsteroidal FXR ligand was designed and used as a lead for structural modification. In total, 39 new trisubstituted isoxazole derivatives were designed and synthesized, which led to pharmacological profiles ranging from agonist to antagonist toward FXR. Notably, compound 5s (4′-[(3-{[3-(2-chlorophenyl)-5-(2-thienyl)isoxazol-4-yl]methoxy}-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)methyl]biphenyl-2-carboxylic acid), containing a thienyl-substituted isoxazole ring, displayed the best antagonistic activity against FXR with good cellular potency (IC₅₀=12.2±0.2 μM). Eventually, this compound was used as a probe in a molecular dynamics simulation assay. Our results allowed us to propose an essential molecular basis for FXR antagonism, which is consistent with a previously reported antagonistic mechanism; furthermore, E467 on H12 was found to be a hot-spot residue and may be important for the future design of nonsteroidal antagonists of FXR.

RhoA, a member of the Rho GTPases, is involved in a variety of cellular functions and could be a suitable therapeutic target for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. However, few small-molecule RhoA inhibitors have been reported. Based on our previously reported lead compounds, 32 new 2-substituted quinoline (or quinoxaline) derivatives were synthesized and tested in biological assays. Six compounds showed high RhoA inhibitory activities, with IC₅₀ values of 1.17–1.84 μM. Among these, (E)-3-(3-(ethyl(quinolin-2-yl)amino)phenyl)acrylic acid (26 b) and (E)-3-(3-(butyl(quinolin-2-yl)amino)phenyl)acrylic acid (26 d) demonstrated noticeable vasorelaxation effects against phenylephrine-induced contraction in thoracic aorta artery rings, and compound 26 b had good water solubility and showed significant in vivo efficacy, which was similar to that of 5-(1,4-diazepane-1-sulfonyl)isoquinoline (fasudil) in a subarachnoid hemorrhage–cardiovascular model. To the best of our knowledge, compound 26 b is the first example of a small- molecule RhoA inhibitor with potent in vivo efficacy, which could serve as a good lead for designing cardiovascular agents.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a metabolic disease and a major challenge to healthcare systems around the world. Dipeptidyl peptidase IV (DPP-4), a serine protease, has been rapidly emerging as an effective therapeutic target for the treatment for T2DM. In this study, a series of novel DPP-4 inhibitors, featuring the pyrazole-3-carbohydrazone scaffold, have been discovered using an integrated approach of structure-based virtual screening, chemical synthesis, and bioassay. Virtual screening of SPECS Database, followed by enzymatic activity assay, resulted in five micromolar or low-to-mid-micromolar inhibitory level compounds (1–5) with different scaffold. Compound 1 was selected for the further structure modifications in considering inhibitory activity, structural variability, and synthetic accessibility. Seventeen new compounds were synthesized and tested with biological assays. Nine compounds (6e, 6g, 6k–l, and 7a–e) were found to show inhibitory effects against DPP-4. Molecular docking models give rational explanation about structure–activity relationships. Based on eight DPP-4 inhibitors (1–5, 6e, 6k, and 7d), the best pharmacophore model hypo1 was obtained, consisting of one hydrogen bond donor (HBD), one hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA), and two hydrophobic (HY) features. Both docking models and pharmacophore mapping results are in agreement with pharmacological results. The present studies give some guiding information for further structural optimization and are helpful for future DPP-4 inhibitors design.

The first direct enantioselective Friedel–Crafts reaction of indoles with isatins has been developed. The process is catalyzed by simple cupreine under mild reaction conditions and affords synthetically and biologically interesting, chiral 3-indolyl-3-hydroxy-2-oxindoles in good yields (68–97%) and with high enantioselectivities (76–91%).

An o-anisidine-Pd(OAc)₂ catalytic system for the direct co-catalytic Saegusa oxidation of β-aryl substituted aldehydes to α,β-unsaturated aldehydes has been developed. The use of o-anisidine in place of (S)-diphenylprolinol made the process more simply and cost-effective. The process not only features the use of unmodified aldehydes rather than enol silyl ethers, but also gives moderate to good yields (44–72 %).