Enantiospecific, selective cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors

Cyclooxygenase inhibition studies with novel indomethacin alkanolamides demonstrate the potential for dramatic differences in inhibitor properties conferred by subtle structural modifications. The transformation of non-selective α-(S)-substituted indomethacin ethanolamides to potent, COX-2 selective inhibitors by simple stereocenter inversion highlights this property.