Synthesis and hypolipidemic and antidiabetogenic activities of beta,beta,beta',beta'-tetrasubstituted, long-chain dioic acids.

beta,beta,beta',beta'-Tetrasubstituted, long-chain dioic acids of the general formula HOOC-C(XY)-C(R2)-Q-C-(R2)-C(XY)-COOH have been synthesized and evaluated as hypotriglyceridemic-hypocholesterolemic agents in rats and as antidiabetogenic agents in ob/ob diabetic mice. The free carboxyl function of analogues of the series was mandatory for their hypolipidemic-antidiabetogenic effect while nonhydrolyzable diesters were inactive. Other structure-activity relationships were determined as a function of the overall chain length (C12-C22), alpha,alpha'-substitutions (X, Y = H, F, Cl, Br, OH, CN), beta, beta'-substitutions (R = CH3, C6H5), and core substitutions [Q = (CH2)10, (CH2)4CH = CH(CH2)4, 1,4-C6H10[(CH2)3]2, 1,4-C6H4[(CH2)3]2, 1,4-C6H4(CH = CHCH2)2, CH2(OCH2CH2)3OCH2)]. The most effective hypolipidemic-antidiabetogenic members of the series were alpha,alpha'-nonsubstituted, beta,beta'-methyl-substituted analogues of 14-18-carbon chains having either a saturated aliphatic core or a 1,4-bis(propenyl)benzene core in the cis/trans configuration. The hypotriglyceridemic rather than the hypocholesterolemic capacity of members of the series was found to correlate with their respective capacities as liver peroxisomal proliferators in rats.