Application of Click Chemistry in the Development of Peptide Based HIV Fusion Inhibitors

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) continues to be a major global public health issue. Inhibition of HIV envelope fusion with the CD4 cell membrane prevents the entry of HIV into the CD4 cells providing a novel approach to the treatment of HIV infection. Thus, interference in the fusion of the virus with the co-receptor substrate appears to be a specific and potential way to fight HIV infection and replication. Applications of click chemistry are spreading in the field of drug discovery and it became a powerful tool for the synthesis of medicinally important compounds.

Remarkably, the Cu (I)-Catalyzed Azide-Alkyne Cycloaddition (CuAAC) click chemistry has become a superior approach for the synthesis of privileged medicinal skeletons in the discovery of anti-HIV agents. Click reactions got enormous popularity because of a high degree of reliability, complete specificity (chemoselectivity and regioselectivity) and it employs chemical reactions that are wide in scope, of high yielding and produce very little or no by-products. In this review, we outlined current approaches towards the development of peptide based HIV fusion inhibitors employing click chemistry.