Design and synthesis of 2′-anilino-4,4′-bipyridines as selective inhibitors of c-Jun N-terminal kinase-3

The design and synthesis of a new series of c-Jun N-terminal kinase-3 (JNK3) inhibitors with selectivity against JNK1 are reported. The novel series of substituted 2′-anilino-4,4′-bipyridines were designed based on a combination of hits from high throughput screening and X-ray crystal structure information of compounds crystallized into the JNK3 ATP binding active site.