The novel positively charged pro-drugs of arylanthranilic acids in the general formula (1) 'Structure 1' were designed and synthesized. The compounds of the general formula (1) 'Structure 1' indicated above can be prepared from mefenamic acid, meclofenamic acid, flufenamic acid, niflumic acid, flunixin, and related compounds, by reaction with suitable alcohols, thiols, or amines and
coupling reagents, such as N, N'-Dicyclohexylcarbodiimide, N, N'-Diisopropylcarbodiimide, O-(Benzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N',N'-tetramethyluronium
tetrafluoroborate, O-(Benzotriazol-1-yl)-N,N,N',N'-tetramethyluronium
hexafluorophosphate, Benzotriazol-1-yl-oxy-
tris (dimethylamino)
phosphonium hexafluorophosphate, et al. The positively charged amino groups of these pro-drugs not only largely increases the
solubility of the drugs, but also bonds to the
negative charge on the
phosphate head group of membranes and pushes the pro-
drug into the
cytosol. The results suggest that the pro-drugs diffuses through
human skin ~200 times faster than does mefenamic acid, meclofenamic acid, flufenamic acid, niflumic acid, flunixin, and related compounds. It takes 2-4 hours for mefenamic acid, meclofenamic acid, flufenamic acid, niflumic acid, flunixin, and related compounds to reach the
peak plasma level when they are taken orally, but these prodrugs only took about ~50 minutes to reach the
peak plasma level when they are taken transdermally. In
plasma, more than 90% of these pro-drugs can change back to the parent drugs in a few minutes. The prodrugs can be used medicinally in treating any NSAIAs-treatable conditions in humans or animals. The prodrugs can be administered not only orally, but also transdermally for any kind of medical treatments and thus avoid most of the side effects of NSAIAs, most notably GI disturbances such as dyspepsia, gastroduodenal bleeding,
gastric ulcerations, and
gastritis.