α-Human thrombin is a potent platelet agonist involved in the blood coagulation cascade
and is an attractive target for an anticoagulant agent due to its involvement in several
debilitating diseases. In this contribution we present attempts to develop a new architecture
for size-selective serine protease inhibitors that utilize a fully methylated icosahedral
p-carborane as a dominating hydrophobic pharmacophore. Using a computational docking
program, flexX, a carborane-containing inhibitor was designed and synthesized. Computationally,
this compound displayed the ability to provide ligand-protein binding interactions
throughout the thrombin’s main active site (S1-S3), while positioning an acylating
group for facile irreversible attack at the Ser195 hydroxyl group.
thrombin - inhibitor - carborane - docking