Design and synthesis of novel antibacterial agents with inhibitory activity against DNA polymerase III.

4-Substituted 2-amino-6-(anilino)pyrimidines have been found to be selective inhibitors of DNA polymerase III, a replicative enzyme known to be essential in the DNA synthesis of Gram-positive bacteria. Among the analogues, 18 displayed an IC50 of 10μM against DNA polymerase III from Staphylococcus aureus.