Substituted 2,5-diazabicyclo[4.1.0]heptanes and their application as general piperazine surrogates: synthesis and biological activity of a Ciprofloxacin analogue

Piperazines and modified piperazines, such as homopiperazines and 2-methylpiperazines, are found in a wide range of pharmaceutical substances and biologically active molecules. In this study 2,5-diazabicyclo[4.1.0]heptanes, in which a cyclopropane ring is fused onto a piperazine ring, are described as modified piperazine analogues. Differentially N,N′-disubstituted and N-monosubstituted compounds can be readily prepared from 2-ketopiperazine in a few steps, using a Simmons–Smith reaction of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydropyrazines with diethylzinc and diiodomethane for the key cyclopropane ring formation. An analogue of the fluoroquinolone antibacterial Ciprofloxacin was synthesized using a palladium-catalyzed Buchwald–Hartwig cross-coupling to attach the diazabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane core to the 7-position of the fluoroquinolone core. The resultant analogue was demonstrated to have similar antibacterial activity to the parent drug Ciprofloxacin. X-ray crystallographic analysis of this analogue reveals a distorted piperazine ring in the diazabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane core. The pKa of the conjugate acid of N-Cbz-monoprotected 2,5-diazabicyclo[4.1.0]heptane was determined to be 6.74±0.05, which is 1.3 pKa units lower than the corresponding N-Cbz-monoprotected piperazine compound. The lower basicity of diazabicyclo[4.1.0]heptanes is due to the electron-withdrawing character of the adjacent cyclopropane rings. The modified physicochemical and structural properties of diazabicyclo[4.1.0]heptanes relative to piperazines are expected to lead to interesting changes in the pharmacokinetic and biological activity profile of these molecules.