Design and synthesis of isoform-selective phospholipase D (PLD) inhibitors. Part I: Impact of alternative halogenated privileged structures for PLD1 specificity.

This Letter describes the synthesis and structure-activity-relationships (SAR) of isoform-selective PLD inhibitors. By virtue of the installation of alternative halogenated piperidinyl benzimidazolone privileged structures, in combination with a key (S)-methyl group, novel PLD inhibitors with low nM potency and unprecedented levels of PLD1 isoform selectivity (approximately 1700-fold) over PLD2 were developed.