Fentanyl Structure as a Scaffold for Opioid/Non-Opioid Multitarget Analgesics

One of the strategies in the search for safe and effective analgesic drugs is the design of multitarget analgesics. Such compounds are intended to have high affinity and activity at more than one molecular target involved in pain modulation. In the present contribution we summarize the attempts in which fentanyl or its substructures were used as a μ-opioid receptor pharmacophoric fragment and a scaffold to which fragments related to non-opioid receptors were attached. The non-opioid ‘second’ targets included proteins as diverse as imidazoline I₂ binding sites, CB₁ cannabinoid receptor, NK₁ tachykinin receptor, D₂ dopamine receptor, cyclooxygenases, fatty acid amide hydrolase and monoacylglycerol lipase and σ₁ receptor. Reviewing the individual attempts, we outline the chemistry, the obtained pharmacological properties and structure-activity relationships. Finally, we discuss the possible directions for future work.