Hybrid diarylbenzopyrimidine non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors as promising new leads for improved anti-HIV-1 chemotherapy.

Molecular hybridization of the known anti-HIV-1 template DPC083 and etravirine based on docking model overlay has been generated a novel series of diarylbenzopyrimidine analogues (DABPs) (5a-z). These new hybrids were assessed for their activity against HIV in MT-4 cell cultures. Most of these compounds showed good activity against wild-type HIV-1 and mutant viruses. In particular, compound 5r showed the most potent activity against wild-type HIV-1 with an EC50 value of 1.8 nM, and with a selectivity index up to 111,954. It also proved more active against mutant L100I, K103N, Y188L, and K103N+Y181C RT HIV-1 strains than efavirenz.