A Series of Potent HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors Containing a Hydroxyethyl Secondary Amine Transition State Isostere: Synthesis, Enzyme Inhibition, and Antiviral Activity

Article abstract of DOI:10.1021/jm00092a002

A series of HIV-1 protease inhibitors containing a novel hydroxyethyl secondary amine transition state isostere has been synthesized.The compounds exhibit a strong preference for the (R) stereochemistry at the transition state hydroxyl group.Molecular modeling studies with the prototype compound 11 have provided important insights into the structural requirements for good inhibitor-active site binding interaction.N-Terminal extension of 11 into the P₂-P₃ region led to the discovery of 19, the most potent enzyme inhibitor in the series (IC₅₀ = 5.4 nM). 19 was shown to have potent antiviral activity in cultured MT-4 human T-lymphoid cells.Comparison of analogs of 19 with analogs of 1 (Ro31-8959) demonstrates that considerably different structure-activity relationships exist between these two subclasses of hydroxyethylamine HIV-protease inhibitors.