Tetraasteranes as homologues of cubanes: effective scaffolds for drug discovery†

Classical hydrocarbon scaffolds have long assisted in bringing new molecules to the market for a variety of applications, but one notable omission is that of tetraasteranes, which are homologues of cubanes belonging to a class of polycyclic hydrocarbon cage compounds. Tetraasteranes exhibit potential as scaffolds in drug discovery due to their identical cyclobutane structures and rigid conformation resembling cubanes. Based on the studies of the physical and chemical properties of tetraasteranes by density functional theory, three series of compounds were designed as homologues of cubanes by the substitution of cubane scaffolds in pharmaceuticals with tetraasteranes. Their potential for pharmaceutical applications was evaluated in silico by molecular docking and dynamics simulations. Their pharmacokinetic and physicochemical properties were studied by the ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity) analysis. The results indicate that tetraasteranes may be scaffolds as novel bioisosteres of cubanes, as well as hydrogen bond donors or acceptors, which enhance the affinity between ligands and receptors with more stable binding behavior and feasible tolerability in ADMET. All these findings provide new opportunities for tetraasteranes to serve as effective pharmaceutical scaffolds for drug discovery and to accelerate the drug discovery process by repurposing both new and old commercial compounds.