Expanding the Scope of Oligo-pyrrolinone–Pyrrolidines as Protein–Protein Interface Mimics

Oligo-pyrrolinone–pyrrolidines (generic structure 1) have the potential to interfere with protein–protein interactions (PPIs), but to reduce this to practice it is necessary to be able to synthesize these structures with a variety of different side chains corresponding to genetically encoded proteins. This paper describes expansion of the synthetic scope of 1, the difficulties encountered in this process, particularly issues with epimerization and slow coupling rates, and methods to overcome them. Finally, spectroscopic and physicochemical properties as well as proteolytic stabilities of molecules in this series were measured; these data highlight the suitability of oligo-pyrrolinone–pyrrolidines for the development of pharmacological probes or pharmaceutical leads.