Novel pyrrolobenzoxaboroles: design, synthesis, and biological evaluation against Trypanosoma brucei.

Human African trypanosomiasis is a fatal parasitic infection caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma brucei. The development of novel antitrypanosomal agents is urgently needed. Here we report the synthesis and structure-activity relationship of a new class of benzoxaboroles as antitrypanosomal agents. These compounds showed antiparasitic IC50 values ranging from 4.02 to 0.03 μg/mL and satisfactory cytotoxicity profile. Three of the lead compounds were demonstrated to cure the parasitic infection in a murine acute infection model. The structure-activity relationship of the pyrrolobenzoxaboroles are also discussed.