The role of sulfamide derivatives in medicinal chemistry: a patent review (2006-2008)

Background: The sulfamide (R(2)NSO(2)NR(2)) functionality is an acceptable functional group in medicinal chemistry when incorporated into putative small-molecule therapeutics, as it has the potential to form several electrostatic interactions with protein and other targets. The clinically-useful broad spectrum antibiotic doripenem contains a mono-substituted sulfamide. The sulfamide functional group is often found to substitute for sulfonamide, sulfamate or urea functionality. Objective/method: During the period of 2006 - 2008, there were nine published patents in which all or most reported compounds contained the sulfamide functional group. There are also patents in which the structures disclosed contain a cyclic sulfamide functional group. Further, there are patents published during this time-frame that contain only a few sulfamide-containing examples, typically as a bioisosteric replacement for a sulfonamide moiety. in this review, we focus on those published patents in which most compounds disclosed are sulfamides and only briefly highlight examples in which sulfamides are included among a large list of other suitable functionalities. Conclusion: While the sulfamide functionality is still fairly under-represented in medicinal chemistry it is a valuable and versatile group that will gain increasing acceptance and favor in the future.