Synthesis of a 200-member library of squaric acid N-hydroxylamide amides

We report here the parallel synthesis of 200 compounds based on squaric acid template. These compounds are obtained via a one-step solution-phase procedure starting from three squaric acid N-hydroxylamide esters precursors. The set of diverse reagents qualified (amines, anilines, amino-alcohols and amino-esters) makes this strategy suitable for the search of biologically active compounds. The library was screened on the zinc metalloenzyme ADAMTS-5 and hits with IC50 in the range of 1–50 μM were identified.