4-(1-Benzyl-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-4-oxo-2-butenoic Acid Derivatives: Design, Synthesis and Anti-HIV-1 Activity

Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) is still an incurable disease with increasing mortality rate. Despite the development of effective FDA-approved anti-HIV drugs, there are some problems due to the growing of resistant viral strands. Therefore, discovery of novel anti-HIV agents is so needed. Integrase, targeted in highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART), is a crucial enzyme in viral replication. In this study, new benzimidazolyl diketo acid derivatives were designed according to required features for inhibitors of HIV-1 integrase. Designed compounds were synthesized and evaluated for anti-HIV-1 effects. According to the cell-based biological assay’s results, most of the tested compounds demonstrated good anti-HIV-1 activity, ranging from 40-90 µM concentration with no severe cytotoxicity. The most potent compound was 13g with EC50 value of 40 µM and CC50 value of 550 µM. Docking analysis of compound 13g in integrase active site was in good agreement with well-known integrase inhibitors, proposing that anti-HIV-1 potency of compounds may be via integrase inhibition.