Design, synthesis, biological evaluation and molecular docking studies of phenylpropanoid derivatives as potent anti-hepatitis B virus agents.

A series of phenylpropanoid derivatives were synthesized, and their anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) activity was evaluated in HepG 2.2.15 cells. Most of the synthesized derivatives showed effective anti-HBV activity. Of these compounds, compound 4c-1 showed the most potent anti-HBV activity, demonstrating potent inhibitory effect not only on the secretion of HBsAg (IC50 = 14.18 μM, SI = 17.85) and HBeAg (IC50 = 6.20 μM, SI = 40.82) secretion but also HBV DNA replication (IC50 = 23.43 μM, SI = 10.80). The structure-activity relationships (SARs) of phenylpropanoid derivatives had been discussed, which were useful for phenylpropanoid derivatives to be explored and developed as novel anti-HBV agents. Moreover, the docking study of all synthesized compounds inside the HLA-A protein (PDB ID: 3OX8) active site were carried out to explore the molecular interactions and a molecular target for activity of phenylpropanoid derivatives with the protein using a moe-docking technique. This study identified a new class of potent anti-HBV agents.