Synthesis and binding affinity of bidentate phenothiazines with two different photoactive groups

The development of targeted, bidentate photoaffinity reagents for mapping the interacting domains of calmodulin (CaM) with the enzymes that it regulates required the synthesis and evaluation of the binding affinity of various phenothiazines. These photoaffinity reagents would possess a photoactive 3-azidophenothiazine group for cross-linking the hydrophobic binding domain of CaM, a second photoactive benzophenone group that would be activated at a different wavelength than the 3-azidophenothiazine group, and a suitable radiolabel. Difficulties were encountered in identifying those structural features that would be compatible with the introduction of a benzophenone group, with the solubility of these benzophenone-substituted phenothiazines, and with the ability of these phenothiazines to inhibit the calmodulin-mediated activation of phosphodiesterase. Solutions to this problem involved the preparation of phenothiazines possessing a quaternary ammonium salt, a zwitterionic amino acid, or a carbohydrate moiety. The phenothiazines that possessed photoactive 3-azido and benzophenone groups and in which one of the piperazine nitrogens in the side chain was converted to a quaternary, N-methylammonium iodide inhibited the calmodulin-mediated activation of phosphodiesterase at a level comparable to that of chlorpromazine.