Pyridinyl cyclohexanecarboxamide cooling compounds

This application is a national stage application of International Application No. PCT/CH2006/000427, filed Aug. 14, 2006, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/708,153, filed Aug. 15, 2005, from which applications priority is claimed, and which are incorporated herein by reference.

This invention relates to cooling compounds.

Cooling compounds, that is, chemical compounds that impart a cooling sensation to the skin or the mucous membranes of the body, are well known to the art and are widely used in a variety of products such as foodstuffs, tobacco products, beverages, dentifrices, mouthwashes and toiletries.

One class of cooling compounds that have enjoyed substantial success consists of N-substituted p-menthane carboxamides. Examples of these compounds are described in, for example, British Patents GB 1,351,761-2 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,052.

It has now been found that a particular selection of such compounds exhibits a cooling effect that is both surprisingly strong and long-lasting. A method is provided, therefore, of providing a cooling effect to a product, comprising the incorporation into the product of at least one compound of the formula I

in which m is a number between 0 and 2, X, Y and Z are selected independently from the group consisting of H, halogen, OH, Me, Et, MeO and EtO, and R 1 , R 2 and R 3 together comprise at least 6 carbons, selected such that

(a) (i) R 1 is selected from the group consisting of H, Me, Et, isopropyl and C 4 -C 5 branched alkyl; and

(ii) R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from the group consisting of Me, Et, isopropyl and C 4 -branched alkyl; or

(b) any two or all of R 1 , R 2 and R 3 together form a monocyclic, bicyclic or tricyclic radical having up to 10 carbons.

Me is defined as methyl, and Et is defined as ethyl.

Examples of cyclic radicals as described under (b) above include 3-para-menthyl, bornyl and adamantyl.

The compounds of formula (I) may comprise one or more chiral centres and as such may exist as a mixture of stereoisomers, or they may be resolved as isomerically pure forms. Resolving stereoisomers adds to the complexity of manufacture and purification of these compounds and so it is preferred to use the compounds as mixtures of their stereoisomers simply for economic reasons. However, if it is desired to prepare individual stereoisomers, this may be achieved according to methods known in the art, e.g. preparative HPLC and GC or by stereoselective syntheses.

In some embodiments, the compounds are those in which X, Y, Z are H, OH, Me or OMe. In certain embodiments, the compounds are those in which m is 2; X, Y and Z are H or Me and R 1 , R 2 and R 3 are taken from Table 1.

A particularly effective compound is that in which R 1 is H and R 2 and R 3 together form a 3-p-menthyl ring.

Examples of effective compounds are (1R,2S,5R)-2-isopropyl-5-methyl-N-(pyridinalkyl)cyclohexanecarboxamide and (2S,5R)-2-isopropyl-5-methyl-N-(pyridinalkyl)cyclohexanecarboxamide. Particular examples of these are (1R,2S,5R)-2-isopropyl-5-methyl-N-(2-(pyridin-4-yl)ethyl)cyclohexanecarboxamide and (2S,5R)-2-isopropyl-5-methyl-N-(2-(pyridin-4-yl)ethyl)cyclohexanecarboxamide

Certain of the compounds are novel. A compound is therefore provided of the formula I as hereinabove described, in which m=2 and X, Y, Z, R 1 , R 2 , R 3 have the meanings given hereinabove, with the proviso that when R 2 and R 3 form a para-menthyl ring, at least one of R 1 , X, Y and Z is a moiety other than H.

A compound is also provided according to formula I as hereinabove described, in which X, Y, Z, R 1 are H and R 2 , R 3 have the meanings given hereinabove.

In certain embodiments R 1 is hydrogen and R 2 and R 3 are independently selected from the group consisting of Me, Et and C 3 -C 4 branched alkyl; or R 1 , R 2 and R 3 together form a monocyclic, bicyclic or tricyclic radical having up to 10 carbons.

The compounds may be easily prepared and isolated by art-recognized methods

They are distinguished from similar compounds of the prior art by their surprisingly high cooling effect (up to 100 times higher than that of similar known compounds) and by the longevity of the cooling effect. These compounds also have a high solubility in oily solvents, such as mint oils, and acidic aqueous solutions, such as soft drinks. These features expand the uses of cooling compounds to a larger variety of products

The compounds may be used in products that are applied to the mouth or the skin to give a cooling sensation. By “applying” is meant any form of bringing into contact, for example, oral ingestion or, in the case of tobacco products, inhalation. In the case of application to the skin, it may be, for example, by including the compound in a cream or salve, or in a sprayable composition. There is also provided, therefore, a method of providing a cooling effect to the mouth or skin by applying thereto a product comprising a compound as hereinabove described.

The range of products in which the compounds may be used is very wide, and it includes by way of example only, dentifrices such as toothpaste and toothgel, mouthwashes, foodstuffs, beverages, confectionery, tobacco products, skin creams and ointments, both cosmetic and medicinal.

The compounds may be used alone or in combination with other cooling compounds known in the art, e.g., menthol, menthone, isopulegol, N-ethyl p-menthanecarboxamide (WS-3), N,2,3-trimethyl-2-isopropylbutanamide (WS-23), menthyl lactate (Frescolat™ ML), menthone glycerine acetal (Frescolat™ MGA), mono-menthyl succinate (Physcool™), mono-menthyl glutarate, O-menthyl glycerine (CoolAct™ 10), menthyl-N,N-dimethylsuccinamate and 2-sec-butylcyclohexanone (Freskomenthe™).

Certain embodiments are now further described by means of the following non-limiting examples.