Isoxazolidine-3,5-dione and noncyclic 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds as hypoglycemic agents

Isoxazolidine-3,5-dione 2 (JTT-501), one of the cyclic malonic acid derivatives, was found to decrease blood glucose at an oral dose of 38 mg/kg/day in KKAy mice and is currently undergoing evaluation in phase II clinical trials. Further studies on a series of malonic acids and related compounds showed that the 1,3-dicarbonyl structure was important for insulin-sensitizing activity. Dimethyl malonate 10, which was selected as a successor for 2, was the optimum compound in a series of 1,3-dicarbonyl compounds and was more potent than the corresponding thiazolidine-2,4-dione 1.