Fluorinated betulinic acid derivatives and evaluation of their anti-HIV activity

Several fluorinated derivatives of the anti-HIV maturation agent bevirimat (1) were synthesized and evaluated for anti-HIV replication activity. The modified positions were the C-2, C-3, C-28, and C-30 positions, either directly on the betulinic acid (2) skeleton or in the attached side chains. Compound 18, which has a trifluoromethyl group added to C-30 of its isopropenyl group, exhibited similar potency to 1 against HIV-1(NL4-3). In total, our current studies support our prior conclusion that C-30 allylic modification is unlikely to be a pharmacophore for anti-HIV activity, but could be a meaningful route to manipulate other properties of 2-related compounds. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.