Influence of Molecular Flexibility and Polar Surface Area Metrics on Oral Bioavailability in the Rat

The relationship of rotatable bond count (N(rot)) and polar surface area (PSA) with oral bioavailability in rats was examined for 434 Pharmacia compounds and compared with an earlier report from Veber et al. (J. Med. Chem. 2002, 45, 2615). N(rot) and PSA were calculated with QikProp or Cerius2. The resulting correlations depended on the calculation method and the therapeutic class within the data superset. These results underscore that such generalizations must be used with caution.