Studies of nonnueleoside HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors. Part 1: Design and synthesis of thiazolidenebenzenesulfonamides

A random high-throughput screening (HTS) program to discover novel normucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) has been carried out with MT-4 cells against a nevirapine-resistant virus, HIV-1(IIIB-R). The primary hit, a thiazolidene-benzenesulfonamide derivative, possessed good activity. A systematic modification program examining various substituents at the 3-, 4-, and 5-positions on the thiazole ring afforded compounds with enhanced anti-HIV-1 and reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitory activities. These results confirm the important role of the substituents at these positions and the thiazolidenebenzenesulfonamide motif as a valuable lead series for the next generation NNRTIs. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.