Amino acid and peptide-based antiviral agents.

Skwarecki, Andrzej Stanisław; Nowak, Michał Grzegorz; Milewska, Maria Jolanta

An important number of antiviral agents used in clinical practice are amino acids, short peptides, or peptidomimetics. Among them, several HIV protease inhibitors (e.g. saquinavir, indinavir), HCV protease inhibitors (e.g. boceprevir, telaprevir), and HCV NS5A protein inhibitors contributed to a signicant reduction of mortality due to AIDS and hepatitis. However, there exists a constant need for the discover of new antiviral agents and the development of existing ones, and amino acids both proteinogenic and non-proteinogenic nature serve as convenient building blocks for that purpose. The synthesis of non-proteinogenic amino acid components of antiviral agents could be challenging due to the need for enantiomerically or diastereomerically pure products. Herein we present a concise review of antiviral agents whose structures are based on amino acids of both natural and unnatural origin. A special attention is paid to the synthetic aspects of non-proteinogenic amino acid components of those agents.