Design, Synthesis, and X-ray Studies of Potent HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors with P2-Carboxamide Functionalities.
Ghosh, A.K., Grillo, A., Raghavaiah, J., Kovela, S., Johnson, M.E., Kneller, D.W., Wang, Y.F., Hattori, S.I., Higashi-Kuwata, N., Weber, I.T., Mitsuya, H.(2020) ACS Med Chem Lett 11: 1965-1972
- PubMed: 33062180 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.9b00670
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
6VCE - PubMed Abstract: 
The design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and X-ray structural studies are reported for a series of highly potent HIV-1 protease inhibitors. The inhibitors incorporated stereochemically defined amide-based bicyclic and tricyclic ether derivatives as the P2 ligands with ( R )-hydroxyethylaminesulfonamide transition-state isosteres. A number of inhibitors showed excellent HIV-1 protease inhibitory and antiviral activity; however, ligand combination is critical for potency. Inhibitor 4h with a difluorophenylmethyl as the P1 ligand, crown-THF-derived acetamide as the P2 ligand, and a cyclopropylaminobenzothiazole P2'-ligand displayed very potent antiviral activity and maintained excellent antiviral activity against selected multidrug-resistant HIV-1 variants. A high resolution X-ray structure of inhibitor 4h -bound HIV-1 protease provided molecular insight into the binding properties of the new inhibitor.
Organizational Affiliation: 
Department of Chemistry and Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States.