We have previously reported the discovery and preliminary structure-activity relationships of a new class of specific HIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) inhibitors whose prototype compound is the 1-[2′,5′-bis-O-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-β-D-ribofuranosyl]-3-N-[(carboxy) methyl]-thymine. In an attempt to increase the inhibitory efficacy against HIV-1 RT of this new class of nucleosides, and to further explore the structural features required for anti-HIV-1 activity, different types of modifications have been carried out on the prototype compound. These include substitution of the tert-butyldimethylsilyl groups by other liphophilic groups, replacement of the carboxy group at the N-3 position of the nucleobase by other functional groups, change in the length of the spacer between the thymine and the carboxylic acid residue and substitution of the thymine moiety by other pyrimidine (uracil, 5-ethyluracil) or purine (hypoxanthine) nucleobases. In addition, the most salient structural features of this new class of HIV-1-specific nucleosides have been incorporated into classical HIV RT nucleoside inhibitors such as ddI, AZT, d4T. Our studies demonstrate that both the carboxymethyl moiety at the nucleobase and tert-butyldimethylsilyl groups at the sugar are important structural components since deletion of either of them is detrimental to the antiviral activity.
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