Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel anti-hepatitis C virus (HCV) agents: 2-hydroxylphenethyl sulfanyl-oxopyrimidines

A novel series of dihydro-hydroxyl-phene-thylsulfanyl-ω-cyclohexyl/phenyl-oxopyrimidine derivatives have been synthesized and their in vitro anti-hepatitis C virus activities have been evaluated using Huh 7.5.1 cells. Some of the compounds showed moderate anti-hepatitis C virus activities, with EC50 range from 7.53 to 0.13 μM. Among all the compounds, 6-(cyclohexylmethyl)-5-ethyl-2-((2-hydroxy-2-phenylethyl)thio)-pyrimidin-4 (3H)-one (3a) had the most promising potential in inhibiting hepatitis C virus with an EC50 value of 0.13 μM and SI value of 121. It was noticed that some of these compounds are both active on hepatitis C virus and human immunodeficiency virus. In addition to experimental evaluation, structure-activity relationships and the molecular modeling analysis of these new congeners are also discussed.