Synthesis of New Triazolopyrazine Antimalarial Compounds

A radical approach to late-stage functionalization using photoredox and Diversinate(™) chemistry on the Open Source Malaria (OSM) triazolopyrazine scaffold (Series 4) resulted in the synthesis of 12 new analogues, which were characterized by NMR, UV, and MS data analysis. The structures of four triazolopyrazines were confirmed by X-ray crystal structure analysis. Several minor and unexpected side products were generated during these studies, including two resulting from a possible disproportionation reaction. All compounds were tested for their ability to inhibit the growth of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum (3D7 and Dd2 strains) and for cytotoxicity against a human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cell line. Moderate antimalarial activity was observed for some of the compounds, with IC(50) values ranging from 0.3 to >20 µM; none of the compounds displayed any toxicity against HEK293 at 80 µM.