Synthesis of glycolipid analogues that disrupt binding of HIV-1 gp120 to galactosylceramide.

HIV-1 has been shown to infect CD4 negative cells by the binding of HIV gp120 to the glycolipid galactosylceramide (1) (GalCer). Several analogues of 1 were prepared to investigate the specific orientation of 1 in the membrane bilayer that is involved in gp120 binding. Interestingly, N-stearyl-1-deoxynojirimycin (8) displayed potent and specific affinity for gp120 equal to that of 1, a finding that may shed light on the antiviral activity of N-butyl-1-deoxynojirimycin.