Synthesis, anti-HIV and antitubercular activities of nelfinavir diester derivatives

Nelfinavir diesters were prepared by reacting nelfinavir with two molar amount of an appropriate substituted aromatic/aliphatic acid in the presence of dicylohexyl carbodiimide as the carboxyl group activator and 4-dimethylamino pyridine as catalyst. The synthesized compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on the replication of HIV-1 (IIIB) in MT-4 cells by MTT assay method and antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv by agar dilution method. Compound 3f emerged as the most potent anti-HIV agent with EC50 of 0.043 μM and CC50 more than >10 μM and was more potent than parent nelfinavir (EC50 of 0.060 μM) and also showed antimycobacterial activity (MIC 8.49 μM).