Antiviral activity of benzotriazole derivatives. 5-[4-(Benzotriazol-2-yl)phenoxy]-2,2-dimethylpentanoic acids potently and selectively inhibit Coxsackie Virus B5.

Abstract A library of 64 benzotriazole derivatives (17 of which were [4-(benzotriazol-2-yl)phenoxy]alkanoic acids) were screened for antiviral activity against a panel of twelve DNA and RNA viruses. Twenty-six compounds (12 of which were [4-(benzotriazol-2-yl)phenoxy]alkanoic acids) displayed activity against one or more viruses. CVB-5, RSV, BVDV, Sb-1 and YFV were, in decreasing order, the more frequently and effectively affected viruses; DENV-2, WNV, HIV-1 and Reo-1 were only occasionally and modestly affected, while the remaining viruses were not affected by any of the tested compounds. Worth of note were compounds 33 and 35 ; the former for the activity against Sb-1 (EC 50  = 7 μM) and the latter for the large spectrum of activity including six viruses with a mean EC 50  = 12 μM. Even more interesting were the alkanoic acids 45 – 48 and 50 – 57 for their activity against RSV and/or CVB-5. In particular, compound 56 displayed a potent and selective activity against CVB-5 with EC 50  = 0.15 μM and SI = 100, thus representing a valuable hit compound for the development of antiviral agents for the treatment of human pathologies related to this virus.