Synthesis of 2-(Pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[3.2.2]nonane, 2-(Pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, and 2-(Pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octane, a Class of Potent Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor–Ligands

In an attempt to generate nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) ligands selective for the α4β2 and α7 subtype receptors we designed and synthesized constrained versions of anabasine, a naturally occurring nAChR ligand. 2-(Pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octane, 2-(pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[3.2.2]nonane, and several of their derivatives have been synthesized in both an enantioselective and a racemic manner utilizing the same basic synthetic approach. For the racemic synthesis, alkylation of N-(diphenylmethylene)-1-(pyridin-3-yl)methanamine with the appropriate bromoalkyltetrahydropyran gave intermediates which were readily elaborated into 2-(pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octane and 2-(pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[3.2.2]nonane via a ring opening/aminocyclization sequence. An alternate synthesis of 2-(pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[3.2.2]nonane via the alkylation of N-(1-(pyridin-3-ylethylidene)propan-2-amine has also been achieved. The enantioselective syntheses followed the same general scheme, but utilized imines derived from (+)- and (−)-2-hydroxy-3-pinanone. Chiral HPLC shows that the desired compounds were synthesized in >99.5% ee. X-ray crystallography was subsequently used to unambiguously characterize these stereochemically pure nAChR ligands. All compounds synthesized exhibited high affinity for the α4β2 nAChR subtype (Ki ≤ 0.5–15 nM), a subset bound with high affinity for the α7 receptor subtype (Ki ≤ 110 nM), selectivity over the α3β4 (ganglion) receptor subtype was seen within the 2-(pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[2.2.2]octane series and for the muscle (α1βγδ) subtype in the 2-(pyridin-3-yl)-1-azabicyclo[3.2.2]nonane series.