A series of tryptophan-based selective nanomolar butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) inhibitors was designed and synthesized. Compounds were optimized in terms of potency, selectivity, and synthetic accessibility. The crystal structure of the inhibitor 18 in complex with BChE revealed the molecular basis for its low nanomolar inhibition (IC₅₀ = 2.8 nM). The favourable in vitro results enabled a first-in-animal in vivo efficacy and safety trial, which demonstrated a positive impact on fear-motivated and spatial long-term memory retrieval without any concomitant adverse motor effects. Altogether, this research culminated in a handful of new lead compounds with promising potential for symptomatic treatment of patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

设计并合成了一系列基于色氨酸的选择性纳摩尔丁酰胆碱酯酶（BChE）抑制剂。在效价，选择性和合成可及性方面对化合物进行了优化。与BChE配合的抑制剂18的晶体结构揭示了其低纳摩尔抑制作用的分子基础（IC ₅₀  = 2.8 nM）。良好的体外结果使得首次在动物体内进行了有效性和安全性试验，证明了对恐惧驱动的空间长期记忆恢复的积极影响，而没有任何伴随的不良运动影响。总而言之，这项研究最终产生了一些新的铅化合物，这些化合物有望在对症治疗阿尔茨海默氏病的过程中大有前途。