An expedient synthesis of Nα-protected- -tetrahydrofuranylglycine and its application in the synthesis of novel substrate based inhibitors of HIV-1 protease

Z- and Fmoc- -tetrahydrofuranylglycines have been obtained from -vinylglycine through dipolar cycloaddition reaction, and its Fmoc derivative has been applied in the synthesis of modified S9 and S10 substrates of HIV-1 protease. These compounds mostly acted as strong inhibitors, rather than substrates, of the protease, probably due to the favourable interactions of the tetrahydrofuranylglycine moiety at the S2 site.