Substituted N-phenylisothioureas: potent inhibitors of human nitric oxide synthase with neuronal isoform selectivity

S-Ethyl N-phenylisothiourea (4) has been found to be a potent inhibitor of both the human constitutive and inducible isoforms of nitric oxide synthase. A series of substituted N-phenylisothiourea analogues was synthesized to investigate the structure-activity relationship of this class of inhibitor. Each analogue was evaluated for human isoform selectivity. One analogue, S-ethyl N-[4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]isothiourea (39), exhibited 115-fold and 29-fold selectivity for the neuronal isoform versus the inducible and endothelial derived constitutive isoforms, respectively. Studies have shown the substituted N-phenylisothiourea 39 binds competitively with L-arginine.