Design, synthesis, and docking studies of new 2-benzoxazolinone derivatives as anti-HIV-1 agents

A new class of 2-benzoxazolinone derivatives was designed and synthesized for its anti-human immunodeficiency virus-1 activity. The benzoxazolinone scaffold could be replaced with catechol moiety in the potent but toxic integrase strand transfer inhibitors. The biological evaluation of the synthesized compounds revealed that all compounds were active against human immunodeficiency virus-1 at 100 mu M. It is also found that most of the compounds presented no significant cytotoxicity at concentration of 100 mu M. The most potent compound with thiadiazole ring as the linker inhibited the human immunodeficiency virus-1 with 84% rate. Docking of this structure in the active site of prototype foamy virus integrase indicated that the chelation of two Mg2+ cations might be the probable mechanism of the anti-human immunodeficiency virus-1 activity. Our results indicated that the synthesized compounds can provide a very good basis for the development of new anti-human immunodeficiency virus-1 agents.