Enhancing activity and selectivity in a series of pyrrol-1-yl-1-hydroxypyrazole-based aldose reductase inhibitors: The case of trifluoroacetylation

Aldose reductase (ALR2) has been the target of therapeutic intervention for over 40 years; first, for its role in long-term diabetic complications and more recently as a key mediator in inflammation and cancer. However, efforts to prepare small-molecule aldose reductase inhibitors (ARIs) have mostly yielded carboxylic acids with rather poor pharmacokinetics. To address this limitation, the 1-hydroxypyrazole moiety has been previously established as a bioisostere of acetic acid in a group of aroyl-substituted pyrrolyl derivatives. In the present work, optimization of this new class of ARIs was achieved by the addition of a trifluoroacetyl group on the pyrrole ring. Eight novel compounds were synthesized and tested for their inhibitory activity towards ALR2 and selectivity against aldehyde reductase (ALR1). All compounds proved potent and selective inhibitors of ALR2 (IC50/ALR2 = 0.043−0.242 μΜ, Selectivity index = 190−858), whilst retaining a favorable physicochemical profile. The most active (4g) and selective (4d) compounds were further evaluated for their ability to inhibit sorbitol formation in rat lenses ex vivo and to exhibit substrate-specific inhibition.