Novel JAK1-selective benzimidazole inhibitors with enhanced membrane permeability.

The previously identified Janus kinase 1 (JAK1)-selective inhibitor, 1-(2-aminoethyl)-2-(piperidin-4-yl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole-5-carboxamide (2), suffered from low cell permeability, which resulted in poor pharmacokinetic properties. In this study, by introducing less polar hydrogen bond donors at N(1) (a hydroxyalkyl or a methylaminoalkyl group) and C2 (a cyclohexanol group) positions, a series of novel benzimidazole derivatives were prepared, which exhibited selective JAK1 inhibitory activity (IC50 against JAK1=0.08-0.15μM; JAK1-selectivity=26-40 fold vs JAK2, 12-23 fold vs JAK3, and 38-54 fold vs Tyk2) along with significantly increased lipophilicity (3.3-15.8 times) as well as membrane permeability (6.3-12 times).