Viral infections, such as those caused by Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1) and SARS-CoV-2, affect millions of people each year. However, there are few antiviral drugs that can effectively treat these infections. The standard approach in the development of antiviral drugs involves the identification of a unique viral target, followed by the design of an agent that addresses that target. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) represent a novel source of potential antiviral drugs. AMPs have been shown to inactivate numerous different enveloped viruses through the disruption of their viral envelopes. However, the clinical development of AMPs as antimicrobial therapeutics has been hampered by a number of factors, especially their enzymatically labile structure as peptides. We have examined the antiviral potential of peptoid mimics of AMPs (sequence-specific N-substituted glycine oligomers). These peptoids have the distinct advantage of being insensitive to proteases, and also exhibit increased bioavailability and stability. Our results demonstrate that several peptoids exhibit potent in vitro antiviral activity against both HSV-1 and SARS-CoV-2 when incubated prior to infection. In other words, they have a direct effect on the viral structure, which appears to render the viral particles non-infective. Visualization by cryo-EM shows viral envelope disruption similar to what has been observed with AMP activity against other viruses. Furthermore, we observed no cytotoxicity against primary cultures of oral epithelial cells. These results suggest a common or biomimetic mechanism, possibly due to the differences between the phospholipid head group makeup of viral envelopes and host cell membranes, thus underscoring the potential of this class of molecules as safe and effective broad-spectrum antiviral agents. We discuss how and why differing molecular features between 10 peptoid candidates may affect both antiviral activity and selectivity.

Combinatorial chemistry allows for the rapid synthesis of large compound libraries for high throughput screenings in biology, medicinal chemistry, or materials science. Especially compounds from a highly modular design are...

Peptoids, or poly-N-substituted glycines, are characterised by broad structural diversity. Compared to peptides, they are less restricted in rotation and lack backbone-derived H bonding. Nevertheless, certain side chains force the peptoid backbone into distinct conformations. Designable secondary structures like helices or nanosheets arise from this knowledge. Herein, we report the copper-catalysed alkyne-azide cycloaddition (CuAAC) of macrocycles to form innovative tube-like tricyclic peptoids, giving access to host–guest chemistry or storage applications. Different linker systems make the single tubes tuneable in size and enable modifications within the gap. An azobenzene linker, which is reversibly switchable in conformation, was successfully incorporated and allowed for light-triggered changes of the entire tricyclic structure.

We describe the synthesis of so far synthetically not accessible 3,6-substituted-4,6-dihydro-3H-pyrazolo[3,4-d][1,2,3]triazines as nitrogen-rich heterocycles. The target compounds were obtained in five steps, including an amidation and a cyclative cleavage reaction as key reaction steps. The introduction of two side chains allowed a variation of the pyrazolo[3,4-d][1,2,3]triazine core with commercially available building blocks, enabling the extension of the protocol to gain other derivatives straightforwardly. Attempts to synthesize 3,7-substituted-4,7-dihydro-3H-pyrazolo[3,4-d][1,2,3]triazines, the regioisomers of the successfully gained 3,6-substituted 4,6-dihydro-3H-pyrazolo[3,4-d][1,2,3]triazines, were not successful under similar conditions due to the higher stability of the triazene functionality in the regioisomeric precursors and thus, the failure of the removal of the protective group.