1-phenyl-2-heteroaryl-substituted benzimidazole derivatives, their use for the production of pharmaceutical agents as well as pharmaceutical preparations that contain these derivatives

A method for treating a patient suffering from arthritis, allergic contact dermatitis, psoriasis, asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, or stroke, which method comprises administering to said patient an effective amount of a benzimidazole compound of formula I:

• in which
• R1 is a phenyl group that is optionally substituted i) with up to three of the following substituents, independently of one another:
• F, Cl, Br, I, OH, OR4, OCOR4, SR4, SOR4, SO2R4, R4, NH2, NHR4, and NR4R4′,
• or ii) with two substituents at adjacent positions on the phenyl ring that together form an —O—CH2—O—, —O—CH2, CH2—O— or —CH2—CH2—CH2— group;
• R2 is a monocyclic or bicyclic 5- to 10-membered heteroaryl group with 1-2 heteroatoms, selected from N, S and O, which
• i) optionally is substituted with up to two of the following substituents, independently of one another:
• F, Cl, Br, I, OH, OR4, OCOR4, COR4, SR4, SOR4, SO2R4, and R4,
• or ii) optionally is substituted with two substituents at adjacent positions on the R2 ring(s) that together form an —O—CH2—O—, O—CH2—, CH2—O— or —CH2—CH2—CH2— group;
• R3 is H, OH or O—C1-6-alkyl;
• R4 and R4′, independently of one another, are each C1-4-perfluoroalkyl or C1-6-alkyl;
• A is a C2-6-alkylene group, which optionally is substituted with ═O, OH, O—C1-3-alkyl, NH2, NH—C1-3-alkyl, NH—C1-3-alkanoyl, N(C1-3-alkyl)2, or N(C1-3-alkyl)(C1-3-alkanoyl);
• B is COOH, CONH2, CONHNH2, CONHR5, or CONR5R5′, which in each case is bonded to a carbon atom of group A;
• R5 and R5′, independently of one another, are in each case a radical, selected from:
• C1-6-alkyl, C2-6-alkenyl, C2-6-alkinyl, wherein a C atom is optionally replaced by O, S, SO, SO2, NH, N—C1-3-alkyl or N—C1-3-alkanoyl;
• C0-3-alkanediyl-C3-7-cycloalkyl, whereby in a five-membered cycloalkyl ring, a ring member is optionally a ring N or ring O, and in a six- or seven-membered cycloalkyl ring, one or two ring members in each case are optionally ring-N atoms and/or ring-O atoms, whereby the ring-N atoms are optionally substituted with C1-3-alkyl or C1-3-alkanoyl;
• C0-3-alkanediyl-phenyl or C0-3-alkanediyl-heteroaryl, whereby the heteroaryl group is five- or six-membered and contains one or two heteroatoms that are selected from N, S and O;
• whereby all above-mentioned alkyl and cycloalkyl radicals are optionally substituted with up to two radicals that are selected from CF3, C2F5, OH, O—C1-3-alkyl, NH2, NH—C1-3-alkyl, NH—C1-3-alkanoyl, N(C1-3-alkyl)2, N(C1-3-alkyl)(C1-3-alkanoyl), COOH, CONH2, and COO—C1-3-alkyl, and all above-mentioned phenyl and heteroaryl groups are optionally substituted with up to two radicals that are selected from F, Cl, Br, CH3, C2H5, OH, OCH3, OC2H5, NO2, N(CH3)2, CF3, C2F5, and SO2NH2;
• or R5 and R5′ together with the N atom form a five- to seven-membered heterocyclic ring that optionally contains another N or O or S atom and is optionally substituted with C1-4-alkyl, CO1-2-alkanediyl-C1-4-alkoxy, C1-4-alkoxycarbonyl, aminocarbonyl, or phenyl;
• or an optical or geometric isomer or tautomer form thereof, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof;
• whereby the following compounds are excluded:
• 6-[[1-Phenyl-2-(pyridin-4-yl)-1H-benzim-idazol-6-yl]oxy]hexanoic acid, and
• 6-[[1-phenyl-2-(benzothien-2-yl)-1H-benzimi-dazol-6-yl]oxy]hexanoic acid.