Relevance and Potential Applications of C2-Carboxylated 1,3-Azoles

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an economically viable and abundant carbon source that can be incorporated into compounds such as 1,3-azoles relevant to the pharmaceutical, cosmetics, and pesticide industries. Of the 2.4 million commercially available C2-unsubstituted 1,3-azole compounds, less than 1 % are currently purchasable as their C2-carboxylated derivatives, highlighting the substantial gap in compound availability. This availability gap leaves ample opportunities for exploring the synthetic accessibility and use of carboxylated azoles in bioactive compounds. In this study, we analyze and quantify the relevance of C2-carboxylated 1,3-azoles in small-molecule research. An analysis of molecular databases such as ZINC, ChEMBL, COSMOS, and DrugBank identified relevant C2-carboxylated 1,3-azoles as anticoagulant and aroma-giving compounds. Moreover, a pharmacophore analysis highlights promising pharmaceutical potential associated with C2-carboxylated 1,3-azoles, revealing the ATP-sensitive inward rectifier potassium channel 1 (KATP) and Kinesin-like protein KIF18A as targets that can potentially be addressed with C2-carboxylated 1,3-azoles. Moreover, we identified several bioisosteres of C2-carboxylated 1,3-azoles. In conclusion, further exploration of the chemical space of C2-carboxylated 1,3-azoles is encouraged to harness their full potential in drug discovery and related fields.