Re-Engineering P(V) Chemical Warfare: Harnessing Stereogenic Phosphorus-Azoles for Protein Ligand Discovery In Vivo

Abstract

P(V) electrophiles such as tabun, sarin, soman, and VX are notorious for their lethality and nefarious intent in chemical warfare. Consequently, these deadly agents have largely been abandoned except for fluorophosphonate tool compounds that were repurposed for activity-based protein profiling (ABPP). Stereogenic P(V) centers hold strong potential as enabling scaffolds for synthetic and medicinal chemistry due to their inherent chirality and favorable bioavailability but are limited principally by potent off-target toxicity. Herein, we developed phosphorus-azole exchange (PhAzE) chemistry for tuning reactivity of the stereogenic P(V) pharmacophore to increase selectivity and mitigate off-target activity in cells and animal models. We demonstrate ultrapotent (300 pM in cells, 1 mg kg-1 in mice), enantioselective, covalent inhibition of the serine hydrolases DPP8/9 with PhAzE ligand in cells and in vivo; no overt toxicity was detected in mice treated daily over the course of a week. These finding show the P(V) electrophile can potently and enantioselectively engage a target protein without a deadly outcome, charting a path towards broader adoption of these agents in laboratory and industry settings.