Discovery of bioavailable 4,4-disubstituted piperidines as potent ligands of the chemokine receptor 5 and inhibitors of the human immunodeficiency virus-1

We describe robust chemical approaches toward putative CCR5 scaffolds designed in our laboratories. Evaluation of analogues in the 125I-[MIP-1β] binding and Ba-L-HOS antiviral assays resulted in the discovery of 64 and 68 in the 4,4-disubstitited piperidine class H, both potent CCR5 ligands (pIC50 = 8.30 and 9.00, respectively) and HIV-1 inhibitors (pIC50 = 7.80 and 7.84, respectively, in Ba-L-HOS assay). In addition, 64 and 68 were bioavailable in rodents, establishing them as lead molecules for further optimization toward CCR5 clinical candidates.