SAR study of 2,3,4,14b-tetrahydro-1H-dibenzo[b,f] pyrido[ 1,2-d][1,4] oxazepines as progesterone receptor agonists

We have developed a new class of progesterone receptor agonists having a tetracyclic dibenzo-oxazepine structure 1. In this paper, the synthesis and structure-activity relationships of this new class are described. This work led to the identification of potent progesterone agonists up to 1 nM activity. Substitution at positions 6, 7 and 1 has proven to be crucial for activity, indicating that probably these positions are involved in important interactions with the receptor. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.