Chapter 9 - Cyanopyridine as a privileged scaffold in drug discovery

Abstract

In medicinal chemistry, cyanopyridine is a typical scaffold of nitrile-containing compounds. A considerable number of compounds based on or containing the cyanopyridine moiety have been shown to be efficacious against multiple diseases, including cancer, inflammation, diabetes, gout, heart failure, and human immunodeficiency virus infection. Despite the diverse biological activities of cyanopyridines, a detailed and comprehensive overview of cyanopyridines in the context of medicinal chemistry is rare. In this review, we summarize known cyanopyridines able to modulate mainstream targets with therapeutic promise from the perspective of bioactivity. Considering some well-studied compounds, we also examine their modification processes, structure–activity relationships, and binding patterns. We hope that the information presented in this study will support the development of cyanopyridines in pharmaceutical chemistry.