In late 2019, a new strain of the coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, appeared in Wuhan, China. This virus is the cause of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a highly infectious disease that resulted in a worldwide pandemic. While a vaccine has just recently been approved, there are no approved antiviral therapeutics that have been specifically designed to target the replication cycle of the virus. The SARS CoV-2 main protease is a cysteine protease responsible for cleaving the coronavirus polyprotein into its active components and recent studies discovered several low micromolar fragments that inhibited the SARS CoV-2 main protease. The fragments consisted of two chemotypes that are close spatially when bound to the main protease. The goal of this research is to link the highly potent fragments to take advantage of the energetics involved in their binding and ultimately inhibit the main protease. This poster showcases the design, synthesis and in vitro evaluation of the compounds based on the lead fragments.

Design, synthesis and evaluation of inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 main protease by fragment linking

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.