Discovery of Original Tricyclic Imidazopyridines during a Search for Nurr1 Nuclear Receptor Agonists

This paper describes the exploration of original tricyclic analogues of compound 1, previously identified as a lead compound during a Programme aimed at identifying Nurr1/NOT agonists for potential treatment of Parkinson’s disease. We discovered several tricyclic [5,6,5]-imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines along with efficient ways of preparing them. These new heterocycles are novel starting points for original chemical series.