Synthetic α-Hydroxytropolones as Inhibitors of HIV Reverse Transcriptase Ribonuclease H Activity

HIV Reverse Transcriptase-associated ribonuclease H activity is a promising enzymatic target for drug development that has not been successfully targeted in the clinic. While the α-hydroxytropolone-containing natural products β-thujaplicinol and manicol have emerged as some of the most potent leads described to date, structure-function studies have been limited to the natural products and semi-synthetic derivatives of manicol. Thus, a library of α-hydroxytropolones synthesized through a convenient oxidopyrylium cycloaddition/ring-opening sequence have been tested in in vitro and cell-based assays, and have been analyzed using computational support. These studies reveal new synthetic α-hydroxytropolones that, unlike the natural product leads they are derived from, demonstrate protective antiviral activity in cellular assays.