Estrogenic antagonists bearing dicarba-closo-dodecaborane as a hydrophobicpharmacophore

Dicarba-closo-dodecaboranes (carboranes), which have spherical geometry and hydrophobicity, are applicable as a hydrophobic pharmacophore of biologica lly active molecules. We have designed and synthesized estrogenic antagonis ts based on the structure of the potent agonist 1-hydroxymethyl-12-(4-hydro xyphenyl)-1,12-dicarba-closo-dodecaborane which we have developed. The comp ounds showed potent antagonistic activity in luciferase reporter gene assay using COS-1 cells transfected with rat ER alpha-expression plasmid and an appropriate reporter plasmid. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. hll rights res erved.