Antiretroviral (HIV-1) activity of azulene derivatives.

The antiretroviral activity of azulene derivatives was detected for the first time. A series of eighteen diversely substituted azulenes was synthesized and tested in vitro using HIV-1 based virus-like particles (VLPs) and infectious HIV-1 virus in U2OS and TZM-bl cell lines. Among the compounds tested, the 2-hydroxyazulenes demonstrated the most significant activity by inhibiting HIV-1 replication with IC50 of 2-10 and 8-20 µM for the VLPs and the infectious virus, respectively. These results indicate that azulene derivatives may be potentially useful candidates for the development of antiretroviral agents.