Synthesis and antiviral activity of novel imidazo[2,1-b]thiazoles coupled with morpholine and thiomorpholines

Herein described the synthesis and antiviral evaluation of a novel series of morpholine and thio-morpholine coupled imidazo[2,1-b]thiazoles. The three-step reaction sequence involving the condensation of 1,3-dichloroacetone with thiourea followed by coupling with morpholine and thiomorpholine and finally cyclization with substituted alpha-bromoacetophenones yielded the desired imidazothiazoles 7(a-l). Screening of all the new compounds for their in vitro antiviral activity against influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1) in MDCK cells, resulted in two potent analogs, 7d (IC50: 1.1 mu M, C-50: >300 mu M, SI = 273) and 7e (IC50: 2.0 mu M, C-50: >300 mu M, SI = 150), with a favorable toxicity profile and are the best anti-influenza hit analogs for further structural optimization.Open Research