Synthesis, X-ray Analysis, and Biological Evaluation of a New Class of Stereopure Lactam-Based HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors

In an effort to identify a new class of druglike HIV-1 protease inhibitors, four different stereopure beta-hydroxy gamma-lactam-containing inhibitors have been synthesized, biologically evaluated, and cocrystallized. The impact of the tether length of the central spacer (two or three carbons) was also investigated. A compound with a shorter tether and (3R,4S) absolute configuration exhibited high activity with a K-i of 2.1 nM and an EC50 of 0.64 mu M. Further optimization by decoration of the P1' side chain furnished an even more potent HIV-1 protease inhibitor (K-i = 0.8 nM, EC50 = 0.04 mu M). According to X-ray analysis, the new class of inhibitors did not fully succeed in forming two symmetric hydrogen bonds to the catalytic aspartates. The crystal structures of the complexes further explain the difference in potency between the shorter inhibitors (two-carbon spacer) and the longer inhibitors (three-carbon spacer)

Tertiary Alcohol- or β-Hydroxy γ-Lactam-Based HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors : Microwave Applications in Batch and Continuous Flow Organic Synthesis

Since the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, the disease has cost the lives of over 30 million people, and a further 33 million are currently living with the HIV infection. With the appropriate treatment, HIV/AIDS can today be regarded as a chronic but manageable disease. However, treatment is not available globally and UNAIDS still estimates that there are currently 5000 AIDS-related deaths worldwide per day. HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) constitute one of the fundaments of HIV treatment, and are commonly used in so-called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), together with reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Although there are ten PIs on the market, there is still a need for novel structures. The rapid development of resistant strains, due to the high frequency of mutations, together with the commonly observed adverse effects of the drugs available, illustrate the need to develop new potent structures. Two novel scaffolds were investigated in this work. A tertiary alcohol-containing scaffold comprising a three-carbon tether, and a β-hydroxy γ-lactam-based scaffold were designed, synthesized and evaluated using enzyme- and cell-based assays. X-ray analyses of inhibitors from each class provided information on inhibitor–protease interactions. The inhibitors containing the tertiary alcohol provided at best an enzymatic inhibition (Ki) of 2.3 nM, and an inhibition in the cell-based assay (EC50) of 0.17 µM. The γ-lactam-based inhibitors exhibited better inhibition than the first series; the best values being Ki = 0.7 nM and EC50 = 0.04 µM. The second part of these studies involved the evaluation of a novel non-resonance continuous-flow microwave instrument. The instrument was validated regarding heating capacity, temperature stability and temperature homogeneity. A number of model reactions were performed with low- and high-microwave-absorbing solvents. It was found that the microwave heating source allowed rapid temperature adjustment, together with easily regulated, flow-dependent reaction times, providing an efficient tool for reaction optimisation

Tertiary Alcohol- or β-Hydroxy γ-Lactam-Based HIV-1 Protease Inhibitors : Microwave Applications in Batch and Continuous Flow Organic Synthesis

Since the outbreak of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, the disease has cost the lives of over 30 million people, and a further 33 million are currently living with the HIV infection. With the appropriate treatment, HIV/AIDS can today be regarded as a chronic but manageable disease. However, treatment is not available globally and UNAIDS still estimates that there are currently 5000 AIDS-related deaths worldwide per day. HIV protease inhibitors (PIs) constitute one of the fundaments of HIV treatment, and are commonly used in so-called highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), together with reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Although there are ten PIs on the market, there is still a need for novel structures. The rapid development of resistant strains, due to the high frequency of mutations, together with the commonly observed adverse effects of the drugs available, illustrate the need to develop new potent structures. Two novel scaffolds were investigated in this work. A tertiary alcohol-containing scaffold comprising a three-carbon tether, and a β-hydroxy γ-lactam-based scaffold were designed, synthesized and evaluated using enzyme- and cell-based assays. X-ray analyses of inhibitors from each class provided information on inhibitor–protease interactions. The inhibitors containing the tertiary alcohol provided at best an enzymatic inhibition (Ki) of 2.3 nM, and an inhibition in the cell-based assay (EC50) of 0.17 µM. The γ-lactam-based inhibitors exhibited better inhibition than the first series; the best values being Ki = 0.7 nM and EC50 = 0.04 µM. The second part of these studies involved the evaluation of a novel non-resonance continuous-flow microwave instrument. The instrument was validated regarding heating capacity, temperature stability and temperature homogeneity. A number of model reactions were performed with low- and high-microwave-absorbing solvents. It was found that the microwave heating source allowed rapid temperature adjustment, together with easily regulated, flow-dependent reaction times, providing an efficient tool for reaction optimisation