Aminobenzimidazoles as selective melanin concentrating hormone receptor antagonists for the treatment of obesity and related disorders

A compound represented by the structural formula

• or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof, wherein
• the dashed line in
• represents either
• (i) an optional bond which may be present or absent, and if present, forms a double bond with the single bond it is adjacent to, or
• (ii) —C(R5R8)—, —C(R5R8)—C(R5R8)— or —C(R11 R12)—;
• m is 1, 2, 3 or 4;
• n is 0, 1 or 2;
• p is 0, 1 or 2;
• Ar is aryl, heteroaryl, R4-substituted aryl or R4-substituted heteroaryl;
• Z is —NR5R6, —NR5C(O)R3, —C(O)NR5R6, —NR5C(O)NR5R6, —NR5C(O)OR3, —NR5S(O2)R3, —S(O2)NR5R6, —S(O2)R3, —C(O)R3, —C(O)OR6, —OH, alkoxy,
• R1 is 1 to 4 moieties, each R1 is independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, —OH, halogen, alkyl, alkoxy, —OCF3, —CF3 or —CN, or two R1 moieties on adjacent carbons of the cycloalkyl ring can be joined together to form a methylenedioxy or ethylenedioxy group;
• R2 is hydrogen, alkyl, R10-substituted alkyl, cycloalkyl, R10-substituted cycloalkyl, aralkyl, heterocyclyl, —C(O)R3, —S(O2)R3 or —C(O)NR5R6;
• R3 is alkyl, aryl, aralkyl, heteroaryl, R4-substituted aralkyl, R4-substituted aryl or R4-substituted heteroaryl;
• R4 is 1 to 5 moieties, each R4 is independently selected from the consisting of hydrogen, heterocyclyl, R9-substituted heterocyclyl, heterocyclylalkyl-, R9-substituted heterocyclylalkyl, —OH, -alkoxy, —OCF3, —CN, alkyl, halogen, —NR5R6, —NR5C(O)R7, —C(O)NR5R6, —NR5S(O2)R7, —S(O2)NR5R6, —S(O2)R7, —COR7, —C(O)OR5, —CF3, -(alkylene)NR5R6, -(alkylene)NR6C(O)R7, -(alkylene)NR6S(O2)R7, -(alkylene), —NR5C(O)NR5R6, -(alkylene)NR5C(O)OR7, CHO, —C═(NOR5) and
• R5 is hydrogen or alkyl;
• R6 is hydrogen, alkyl, aryl, aralkyl or heteroaryl;
• R7 is alkyl, aryl, aralkyl or heteroaryl;
• R8 is hydrogen or alkyl;
• R9 is alkyl, —OH or hydroxyalkyl;
• R10 is alkoxy, halogen, —C(O)NR5R6, —C(O)OR6, —NR5R6 or —OH;
• R11 is hydrogen or halogen;
• and
• R12 is hydrogen or halogen.