Synthesis and biological evaluation of dihydroquinazoline-2-amines as potent non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors of wild-type and mutant HIV-1 strains.

Abstract

A novel series of dihydroquinazolin-2-amine derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-HIV-1 activity in MT-4\u202fcell cultures. All of the molecules were active against wild-type HIV-1 with EC50 values ranging from 0.61\u202fμM to 0.84\u202fnM. The most potent inhibitor, compound 4b, had an EC50 value of 0.84\u202fnM against HIV-1 strain IIIB, and thus was more active than the reference drugs efavirenz and etravirine. Moreover, most of the compounds maintained high activity (low-micromolar EC50 values) against strains bearing the reverse transcriptase (RT) E138K mutation. Compound 4b had EC50 values of 3.5\u202fnM and 66\u202fnM against non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor-resistant strains bearing the RT E138K and RES056 mutations. In enzyme activity assays, compound 4b exhibited an IC50 value of 10\u202fnM against HIV-1 RT. Preliminary SARs and molecular docking studies provide valuable insights for further optimization.