2-mercaptoimidazoles, a new class of potent CCR2 antagonists

We describe the synthesis and SAR of a new class of CCR2 antagonists based on a 2-mercaptoimidazole scaffold. The initial lead 1a was optimized to the 3,4-disubstituted analogues 1p-(S) and 1q-(S), which have IC50 values in the MCP-1 induced Ca-flux below 0.01 muM. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.