We report the design, synthesis and antiviral evaluation of a number of lipophilic, masked phosphoramidate derivatives of the antiherpetic agent (E)-5-(2-bromovinyl)-2′-deoxyuridine (BVDU), designed to act as membrane soluble prodrugs of the free nucleotide. The phosphoramidate derivatives of BVDU that contain L-alanine exhibited potent anti herpes simplex virus type 1 and varicella-zoster virus activity but lost marked activity against thymidine kinase-deficient virus strains. The phosphoramidate derivative bearing the amino acid α,α-dimethylglycine showed poor activity in all cell lines tested. It appears that successful kinase bypass by phosphoramidates is highly dependent on the nucleoside analogue, amino acid and ester structure, as well as the cell line to which the drugs are exposed.
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