Chemical compounds

#This application is a 371 of International Application No. PCT/EP02/07865, filed July 15, 2002.

#The present invention relates to bicyclic derivatives, to processes for their preparation, to pharmaceutical compositions containing them and to their use in therapy.

#The first corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) was isolated from ovine hypothalami and identified as a 41-amino acid peptide (Vale et al., Science 213: 1394-1397, 1981). CRF has been found to produce profound alterations in endocrine, nervous and immune system function. CRF is believed to be the major physiological regulator of the basal and stress-release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (“ACTH”), Bendorphin and other proopiomelanocortin (“POMC”)-derived peptides from the anterior pituitary (Vale et al., Science 213: 1394-1397, 1981).

#In the Intermediates and Examples unless otherwise stated:

#Melting points (m.p.) were determined on a Gallenkamp m.p. apparatus and are uncorrected. All temperatures refers to ° C. Infrared spectra were measured on a FT-IR instrument. Proton Magnetic Resonance (1H-NMR) spectra were recorded at 400 MHz, chemical shifts are reported in ppm downfield (d) from Me4Si, used as internal standard, and are assigned as singlets (s), doublets (d), doublets of doublets (dd), triplets (t), quartets (q) or multiplets (m). Column chromathography was carried out over silica gel (Merck AG Darmstaadt, Germany). The following abbreviations are used in text: EtOAc=ethyl acetate, cHex=cyclohexane, CH2Cl2=dichloromethane, Et2O=dietyl ether, DMF=N,N′-dimethylformamide, DIPEA=N,N-diisopropylethylamine, DME=ethylene glycol dimethyl ether, MeOH=methanol, Et3N=triethylamine, TFA=trifluoroacetic acid, THF=tetrahydrofuran, DIBAL-H=diisobutylaluminium hydride, DMAP=dimethylaminopyridine, LHMDS=lithiumhexamethyldisilazane; Tlc refers to thin layer chromatography on silica plates, and dried refers to a solution dried over anhydrous sodium sulphate; r.t. (RT) refers to room temperature.

#Intermediate 1