Design and Synthesis of Acyclic Nucleoside Analogs with Chlorinated Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine Bases

Abstract

A series of acyclic C-nucleoside analogs of 2,6-dichloro- and 2,6,7-trichloroimidazo1,2-a]pyridine were synthesized and tested for antiviral activity. The appropriate hydroxymethyl-substituted heterocycles were treated successively with thionyl chloride, an appropriate nucleophile, then diisopropylethylamine to obtain the desired acyclic nucleoside analogs. These compounds were evaluated for activity against human cytomegalovirus and herpes simplex virus, type 1. Two of the dichloro analogs, but none of the trichloro analogs demonstrated slight antiviral activity (IC₅₀'s = 20–45 µM) at non-cytotoxic concentrations.