Solid-phase synthesis of diamine and polyamine amino acid derivatives as HIV-1 tat-TAR binding inhibitors.

A series of diamine and polyamine derivatives, either free amines or salts (HCl or TFA), of aspartic and glutamic acid were prepared in excellent yields using Rink Amide solid-phase synthesis. The asparagine and glutamine derivatives were all evaluated for their ability to inhibit Tat-TAR binding using a FIGS cellular assay, with the polyamine derivatives exhibiting the most promising binding activity.