Synthesis and biological evaluation of dialkylsubstituted maleic anhydrides as novel inhibitors of Cdc25 dual specificity phosphatases.

An efficient synthesis of dialkylsubstituted maleic anhydrides 1a-j is described. The inhibitory potential of these original anhydride derivatives was tested toward the three human isoforms A, B and C of dual specific phosphatases Cdc25. A micromolar range inhibition of Cdc25s was observed with the maleic anhydrides bearing simple alkyl side chains longer than C(9), to reach the optimal activity with a C(17) chain length.