Design and synthesis of aminophenol-based factor Xa inhibitors

A novel potent and selective aminophenol scaffold for fXa inhibitors was developed from a previously reported benzimidazole-based naphthylamidine template. The aminophenol template is more synthetically accessible than the benzimidazole template, which simplified the introduction of carboxylic acid groups. Substitution of a propenyl-para-hydroxy-benzamidine group on the aminophenol template produced selective, sub-nanomolar fXa inhibitors. The potency of the inhibitors is partially explained with the aid of a trypsin complex crystal structure.