Noncomputer approach to structure-activity study. Expanded Fibonacci search applied to structurally diverse types of compounds

Abstract

The Fibonacci search technique, first applied to a structure-activity study by Bustard, has been expanded to allow the analysis of a broad class of structural types of compounds. The compounds are first arranged in order of increasing value of a molecular property of the analogs such as log P, Sigmapi, Sigmasigma, or Rm. A successful Fibonacci search of the compounds will find the most active analog in a small, predetermined number of steps. Examples are given where insight as to mechanism of action is indicated by the combination of various parameters such as log P and pKa. Additional examples illustrate the use of Fibonacci search to establish the parabolic dependence of the biological activity of lipophilicity and sigma, where such dependency had not been observed initially. This technique allows the treatment of a variety of structurally diverse types of compounds simultaneously. It is to be stressed that Fibonacci search can be applied to structure-activity studies without the use of a computer.