Synthesis and anti-hepatitis B virus activity of a novel class of thiazolylbenzimidazole derivatives.

Recently, heterocyclic benzimidazole derivatives have been investigated and validated as a promising class of antiviral agents. In this paper, a series of novel thiazolylbenzimidazole derivatives was synthesized and evaluated for their anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity and cytotoxicity on the HepG2.2.15 cell line. Afterwards, the preliminary structure-activity relationship (SAR) was discussed. Compound 8b, with IC(50)  = 1.1 µM and SI > 90.9, was the most promising compound and could be selected as a benchmark compound for further investigation.