A versatile strategy for the design and synthesis of novel ADP conjugates and their evaluation as potential poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 inhibitors.

A versatile strategy for the synthesis of [Formula: see text] mimetics was developed, involving an efficient pyrophosphate linkage formation in key conjugates containing a functional amino group which acts as useful reactive anchor for further derivatization. These [Formula: see text] mimetics consist of ADP conjugated through a diphosphate chain to an extended aliphatic linker bearing an aromatic acid residue. A number of conjugates containing aromatic carboxylic acids were found to inhibit poly(ADP-ribose) synthesis catalyzed by poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (PARP-1). A new class of potential PARP-1 inhibitors mimicking [Formula: see text], a substrate in the PARP-1 catalyzed reaction, was proposed.