The synthesis and activity of a series of fluorinated peptide analogues of the p17/p24 sequence incorporating 3-fluoro and 3,3-difluoro phenylananines at the P1 position of the scissile bond are described. It was hoped that these might act as potent inhibitors of HIV protease. In fact, none of the compounds studied displayed any anti-HIV activity in vitro. This may be attributed to poor cell penetration of the compounds and metabolic cleavage of their peptide bonds.
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