Syntheses and initial evaluation of a series of indolo-fused heterocyclic inhibitors of the polymerase enzyme (NS5B) of the hepatitis C virus.

Abstract Herein, we present initial SAR studies on a series of bridged 2-arylindole-based NS5B inhibitors. The introduction of bridging elements between the indole N1 and the ortho -position of the 2-aryl moiety resulted in conformationally constrained heterocycles that possess multiple additional vectors for further exploration. The binding mode and pharmacokinetic (PK) properties of select examples, including: 13-cyclohexyl-6-oxo-6,7-dihydro-5H-indolo[2,1-d][1,4]benzodiazepine-10-carboxylic acid ( 7 ) (IC 50  = 0.07 μM, % F  = 18), are reported.