Synthesis and investigations on the oxidative degradation of C3/C5-alkyl-1,2,4-triarylpyrroles as ligands for the estrogen receptor.

In this study, we synthesized 1,2,4-triarylpyrroles as ligands for the estrogen receptor (ER). Two pyrrole series were prepared with either C3-alkyl or C3/C5-dialkyl residues. Compounds from both series were susceptible to oxidative degradation-dialkylated compounds (t(1/2) =33-66 h) to a higher extent than their monoalkylated congeners (t(1/2) =140-211 h). Nevertheless, stability was sufficient for determination of in vitro ER binding affinity. The most active agonist in hormone-dependent, ERα-positive MCF-7/2a and U2-OS/α cells was 1,2,4-tris(4-hydroxyphenyl)-3-propyl-1H-pyrrole (6 d) (MCF-7/2a: EC(50) =70 nM; U2-OS/α: EC(50) =1.6 nM). A corresponding inactivity in U2-OS/β cells demonstrated the high ERα selectivity. This trend was confirmed in a competition experiment using estradiol (E2) and purified hERα and hERβ proteins (relative binding affinity (RBA) calculated for 6 d: RBA(ERα)=1.85 %; RBA(ERβ) <0.01 %). Generally, C3/C5-dialkyl substitution led to reduction of activity, possibly due to lower stability.