Product Design
Nicotine Pharmacology As Influenced by Structural Modification: Biological Effects Elucidated by Chemical Reaction Modeling
Abstract
States that the biological activity and pharmacology of nicotine can be altered with small changes in it's molecular structure. Indicates these changes are little understood and says the use of chemical reaction models would be beneficial in elucidating this phenomena.
Fields
- Notes
Draft material.
- Author
- Dwyer, R. William (Associate Prinicipal Scientist, PM, c. Fe.b '97)Reported to Robert A Fenner, Dir. of Product Research, Richmond VA
- Osdene, Thomas Stefan, Ph.D. (Director of Science and Technology, Philip Morris [1986])
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry. Ten years of research when he started with PM in 1965. Worked in Chemical Research Division of PM 1965-66; Chemical and Biological Research Division 1966-69; Director of Research 1969-1984, also assumed independent position as Director of Research and Extramural Studies during these years; became Director of Science and Technology in 1984, reporting directly to Philip Morris USA Executive VP Mark Serrano. Involved with Center for Indoor Air Research (CIAR) 1988. Attended PM's Operation Downunder Conference in June, 1987. Retired 1993.- Sanders, Edward B. (Ted), Ph.D. (PM Dir. of Chemical Research)
Neuchatel, '99- Secor, Henry V. (PM Researcher, 1980s)
Dr. Secor was a Researcher for Philip Morris. In the early to mid 1980's Dr. Secor made the nicotine analogs used in Victor DeNoble's studies. (V. DeNoble 5-26-94)- Seeman, Jeffrey I., Ph.D. (PM scientist -- nicotine analogs)
Defense - Osdene, Thomas Stefan, Ph.D. (Director of Science and Technology, Philip Morris [1986])
- Hypothesis
- Nicotine transport, transfer, and uptakeDesign changes which alter nicotine delivery or effect how the product causes and maintains dependence, including transfer of nicotine from tobacco to smoke, and uptake into the body.
- Smoke constituent testing
Development of methods for measurement of gas and particulate yields in mainstream and sidestream smoke.- Smoking psychology and behavior
- Smoke constituent testing
- Keyword
- Animal testing
- Brain activity
- Central nervous system (CNS)
- Electrophysiological
- Neuropharmacology (Electrophysiology)
Receptor, brain, and CNS effects (EEG, trigeminal response, etc.)- Nicotine delivery (Smoke nicotine or nicotine yield)
- Physiological effects
- Sensory response
- Brain activity
- Additive
- 2-methylnicotine
- 4-methylnicotine
- Smoke Constituent
- 2-methylnicotine
- 4-methylnicotine
- Nicotine
- Nicotinoids
- 4-methylnicotine
- Design Component
- Nicotine content (Tobacco nicotine content)Total nicotine in the unburnt tobacco rod
- Named Organization
- Philip Morris Research Center (Did 1983 study which concluded that nicotine is addictive)Philip Morris Research Center did a 1983 study which concluded that nicotine is addictive, per New York Times (Reuters 4/5/94).
- Subject
- CNS/Brain (Effects)
- nicotine technology
- nicotine analogues (Technology)
- Pharmacology (Effects)
- Test/Animal Subject (Testing)
- nicotine technology
Document Images
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Experimentation in the pharmacologic, psychopharmacologic, and physiologic
effects of nicotine (1) continues at an extraordinarily high level. . Within
the last year,.a stereospecific binding site for nicotine in rat brain membranes
relationships (SAR) have been established and no SAR that encompass both
-
. r. . :.
central and peripheral nicotinic systems has been proposed. Efforts to establish
such relationships would be facilitated by the availability of 'additional wti,i'
~'~"W
analogues possessing the nicotine ring geometry.[ Some time ago, Hagl~.k reported =i
~
that 4-methylnicotine (4) was devoid of'nicotinic cho'linergi.c/activity,.and
~ M!F
;suggested that the pyridine methyl group of 4, which is ortho.to its A-methyl-r~;
: . '
.. ~ X
:.
PY rrolidine .ringr interferes with the ring-ring conformation required at the "
~ ... .] R~Y , .r . . ../' .
,10
. . . . . .
nicotinic receptor.~5-8 We now report results which suggest that methyl
s
. ... -
`' ~..;I. 4 , /.~ . '. . ' . . . - .. . . .. : ~sJ
substitution on.the nicotine molecule acts not by limiting the availability of
~ .~. t ....;. :, ~~ .. .. ... ' ...~ . .. ,.. . . - _ S`F' .~y..
..:: S7 , . ._..
- A
N. important conformations (Haglid's postulate ) but by reducing accessibilit-
~
."
X~~,'~"~
t© the pyrrolidine nitrogen By employing chemical reactions as models for
t4)wth~(V
.;r.
biological interactions, we have observed novel steric effects in these°
' . . . : . - - - .
~
conformationally mobile systems which can be correlated with the pharmacologic~~ '
`
activitiesobserved. -..The nicotinoids included in this series demonstrate a+
. . .
.. .. , , . S..k
rl
wide range of activity for, the tests examined and can serve ase the basis fo':
more detailed structure-activity relationships in the future.

have a
.LU 5a ana
active than
tions can be made:
pyrrolidine
-.: tests; , (2)
pyridine
-on inspection of
and maxima for each compound as
nicotine. The calculated barriers are large.
additional
nicotine in
(1)
a SAR
which
,
loss
would
0
(3)
able=lists the
would
0
r a;
pinpoint specific critical structural
.... . ' . . . s«:::_-.c: .
: r:.~. .....
features, such as steric hindrance/at both nitrogens and molecular conformati.on
The pharmacological test results for these nicotinoids are detailed in Table
10
Placement of a
.. : ~6
substantial effect, 6 methylnicotine b ing 3-7 times
A
guinea pig ileuro tests and 2 methylnicotine being
: -l Ckf
these same two tests. A number of
substitution of a pyridine
single: methylp group on the nicotine nucleus can cle
,
cis-3'-methyl- and trans-3'-methylnicotine are
though both are less active.than nicotine;
activity; (4), substitution close the
nitrogen increases activity in one case
. . . , ti;;.
another; and (5) substitution^ distant from the pyrrolidine ring (at CS and
.
`ti; _ ~ . . ~
Cs).has only a modest effect on activity, increasing activity in the case of :.`
_ -~ ~es- ~~ : , .
6-methylnicotinen ln order to evaluate Haglid's postulates-7 of conformational
control of activity as stated above, we included in our studya a number of
, .
... . .: . .. .. _ ~
<
~
. ,: .. . . .,.: .
.... .. ,. . , - . ,, . .,
~.. ..-c _ , . .~-,,, - . . ..~ .~. ~. ., ~ .' .. :
compounds which we considered to have specific conformational features based :
. ,, .,.
iding models.
in this field, we carefully designed9 a series
barriers but probably would not change the trend seen for this molecular
reported as we place more emphasis
calculated, an:d it is
on the relative order observed than on the actual values
important to note that unrealistically high barriers are often the-results of
14
such procedures.
The important structural conclusions from these calculations

include: (a) 4-methylnicotine5-8- (4) and 2-methylnicotin -8,15 Mv botkAIOfi
qbAlvtL have a methyl group ortho to the pyrrolidine ririg and have similar
pyridine-pyrrolidine conformational profiles; (b) cis -3 " -methylnicotine (21-D
C2i4-H:C3"-CH3 cross ring interaction which is analogous to the
C-CH3:C3'-H.interaction in 2 and 4; (c) the C3,-or C5,-methyl group of trans-
and cis-5'-methylnicotine (5c) respe
ctively ;F
~
affect pyrrolidine ring interactions without modifying ring-ring energetics;
and (d) the pyridine methyl group.of 5-methyl- and 6-methylnicotine (5 and 6
have no effect on either ring-ring conformations or pyrrolidine ring conforma-
To.,quantify.the intramalecular interactions- arising in these nicotinoids
substantiate `the- conformational analyses based on Dreiding models

>
:'nicotine is unlikely to be due to steric congestion at the pyridine nitrogen °.=
... ~ _ ... . . . . . .... . . ' . , . ' - , . , j ,
since significant activity is found for 6-methylnicotine. A particularly `,
be_ destabilized in N---N" anti conformations. The low activity of 2-methyl-
nitrogen for
suggest that
activity, and
sibility.
rates of alkylation
these analogues
was chosen as a
; tion o
In order
,
i
r..
striking structural feature of the least active analogues
their PY . .. ,.. . ,.
ridine methyI groups produce severe steric hindrance
large sectors of'their 'possible 'conformations.
pyrrolidineA nitrogen accessibility
that the pyridine'methyl groups
a<-;
in 2 and 4 decrease±~that a ces -
'
is
crucial
(2 and 4)
at
5
t
~Y.
i:~;!i'!yw4 k
a

This large rate retardation is particularly novel in
of rapid ring-ring rotation about the C_ft7_C2i__pivot bond
to favor conformations
µ
significant steric
effect
and 4), it is reasonable that ather
.,.
in which there. is minimum


}'
C. Ramano and A Goldstein,Science,'210, 647-650 (1980).
L. G. ~Abood, K. :7 Lowy, A..' Tometsko, M. MacNeil, Arch."I
Ther. 237', 213-227 (1979) :
' L. T. Meltzer, .T 'A. Rosecrans,
macology, 68,-283-286 (1980).
. Haglid, Acta Chem. Scand:," 2~,1, 329-334 (1967).
'
F. Haglid,Acta Phar~ Sue~ica: ,: 4, `117-138 (1967) .
- F. Haglid in "Tobac A1 loids and Related Compounds", U S k on E}Iler,;
,
~
'Ed. , Macmillan,` New York, 1965, pp.` 315-319
E._ -Leete and -S. ' A ', S.: Leete, `J: Org. Chem. , ' 43, 212'2-222'S (1978) ': ' Note, . ;
in particular,'the pharmacology discussion in~the experimental section of
~this paper.
~ ,
, yt 1 `' Si~.i...:
~y '~~.r "t~f.~:,f f ~1
.... ,~,~ ~.
,. . . - . ..-. .. ,. . .
. . _ .. :;' . .. ~
_-.. . . .
.
-.;Full details, of the synthesis 'of the new compounds reported herein will
_
=:be.described elsewhere.'_`Satisfactory elemental and spectroscopic.analyses
F~,were obtained for all.-compounds .'' Unless otherwise indicated,,,all com- `:;
:pounds=.are racemic mixtures ;A11 pharmacological -tests'reported herein
were conducted under contract outside of Philip Morris
r 15." Sarµ~~r
p~~
The various .pharmacological tests reported"herein represent;:the tradi
~1
-tional `:ones =used '-for. 'screening nicotinic cholinergicc agents ~'.It is rec= , a
.
. ,
ognized.:<°that: 'mang different . sites of action -`as well as ' niechanisms . of ~
r:... . ,ry .. .._ . :. . .. .. . ,.. _
action : a,re clearly ; involved ,~:; We :`are ` particularly interested :.;In the
activity trends observed rather than the operative detailed pharmacolog
, fi ical mechanisms ~;, , ~, ,?~ ~1 ` ~5 f ft ~ ~,
t.+ n'": r.ir~'
,
As a baseline geometry for the calculations, a=partialZy optimized ni'KVrr~x
};:otine. coordinate system-was usedX. The nicotine. coordinates evolved from i,r7,
. i .~
fully optimizing pyridine and N-methY1PYrrolidine 'structures seParatel
, Y,z
-adbtli theetithfr`th fll y
n.susequeny usngse gomeres .ogeter-oeu_ nicotine
- ... .' . .
calculations. :;;The nicotine structural parameters-;,varied `''for energy,
~
minization included the,inter-ring distance, the side-to-side-and up-and-
11
down torsions of the pyridine ring, the methyl out-of-plane and side-to-
side motions, and the H(2) and H(4) in-plane angles.. At fixed values of
, the inter-ring torsion angle, seven internal structural:!parameters
were varied independently until the energy minimum was found 5'':.The seven ~'
parameters chosen.exhibited the greatest coulombic forces in the molecule..`Y
This procedure was repeated at 10° increments of t-';'These nicotine
:geometries were used for the INDO studies of the methylnicotine conforma-,,
tions by substituting -CH3 coordinates in place of the appropriate -H
-,
coordinates."- For each compound, thel2ethyl rotational angles were optimized ,,; ~
..ts,
For compaB'son, an INDO 'calculation was. also run on the. reported x-ray
~: s**_ucture . of nicotine using standard hydrogen parameters; ` the molecutar
:energy, we calculated from these x ray data greatly exceeded our.results
N
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'
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sca>a ~~,_
dr,5,~~: x~'cMr~

t
12.
1
1
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1
18
on the partially optimized nicotine geometry at all values of t7 Full
idetails of these calculations will be reported elsewhere by one of us (R.
W. Dwyer). N---N' refers to the relative orientation'of the pyridine and
pyrrolidine nitrogen atoms.
3831-3842 (1973).
R. J. Radna, D. L. Beveridge, and A. L. Bender,
,
C. H. Koo and H. S. Kim, Daehan Kwahak Kwoejee, 9, 134-141 (1965)~; Chem.~'
.Abstr., 65, 6431e.
. ..
K. Ahmed, in "Advances in Chemistry:Computer-Assisted Drug Design", R. E.
Christoffersen and E. C. Olson, Eds., American Chemical Society, Washington,
. . . <
D.C., 1979, Chapter 12. ~:. ~
. .. . _ . . . . , ,'r~.
See, for example, D. S. Fullerton, K. Yoshioka, D. C. Rohrer, A. H. L.
From, and K.' Ahmed, Science, 205, 917-919' (1979); Mol. Pharmacology, 17,
43-51 (1980); D. C. Rohrer, D. S. Fullerton, K. Yoshioka, A. H. L. From,
. .. .. .... . - ~ - . . ~ . . . :M~;n
J. Am. Chem. Soc.,
.-. `
. . . . -
. .....
. E. B. Sanders, H. V.. Secor, and J. I. Seeman, J. Org. Chem., 43, 324-330
:.(1978), J. Org. Chem., 41, 2658-2659 (1976)~.
. M. Cushman and N. Castagnoli, Jr., J. Org. Chem.,`37,' 1268-1271 (1972) :
. M. L. Rueppel and H. Rapoport, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 92, 5528-5531 (1970).'
-
~
e - f
~V..
' i .... ~
~.t v'.. . . . . . .. . . .,. .. ,t.r .r . '~r
. . . . . `....j"~! . . . i, .: ._ .. ., ' ..
J. McKenna, Topics in Stereochemistry, 5,I275-308 (1970).
see W. T. Wipke and P Gund, J.-Am. Chem.. Soc., 98, 8109'-8118 (1976).
'
For an elegant discussion on conformationally dependent congestion factors, ~
A.: T.. Bottini in "Selective Organic Transformations,"n Vol. '1,
4
an alkylating reagent. These invertomers may also be able to complex
with biological systems with different kinetic parameters. See also ref.
:Lett., .1901-1904 (1978) Nicotine alkylation is complicated by the
presence of two stereoisomers each of which is capable of reacting with
.18 and J.- I. Seeman; H. ' V. Secor, H. Hartung, and R. Galzerano, J. Am."
Chem. Soc., 102, 7741-7747 (1980)
23. M. Mattila and A. Vartiainen,. Acta P'harmacol. Toxicol.,
(1962)'
+.
19, 330-336
Thyagarajan, Ed., Wiley-Interscience, New York, N.Y., 1970, pp: 89-142. `
`.~ ; .
rt
H~ C Brown and A. Cahn, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 77, 1715-1723 (1955)
J. I. Seeman, H. V. Secor, J F: Whidby; and R.'L. Bassfield, Tetrahedron
c
B. S.
A. Melikian, Ph.D. Thesis, University of California, San Francisco, CA,
1973; . University Microfilms No. 73-29,927; Chem. Abstr., 80, 82560w.
t
25. The lower activity of 3,~'e and Vt may also be related to de.creased
pyrrolidine accessibility demonstrated in preliminary iodomethylation
studies on these compounds (J. .L. Seeman and H. V. Secor, unpublished
'results). Torsional motion about the C2,-Cg, and C3,-C4, bonds can be a
major source of relief of steric strain for these compounds.
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LD50
GUINEA PIG ILEUM RAT BLOOD
PRESSURE
5 6
N N
PYRROL_IDINE
NITROGEN
ACCESSl6IL_ITY(fNI)
