Antiviral activity of isoindole derivatives

The isoindole scaffolds and their related compounds are very important as they have a wide range of biological activities such as antiinflammatory, antiarrhythmic, nootropic, anxiolytic, sedative, and antimicrobial activities. The design, synthesis and biological evaluation of novel antiviral agents have seen an increased relevance over the past few years. Several promising and successful results have been collected and reported in this mini review that could be useful for their further development and application in antiviral therapy. Furthermore, the main types of drug targets, the mechanism of actions, and the structure–activity relationship have also been studied to find potent and safe antiviral agents. This review summarises the considerable antiviral activities of isoindoline derivatives against several human viruses. The isoindole framework has and comprises many advantageous physicochemical and biological properties. Several promising results showed that linkage, fusion, substitution or hybridization of the isoindole ring with various other rings or side chains led to effective antivirals. Results reported refer to versatile mechanism of action of these compounds.