1Abstract: The various alpha-methoxy DABO series (12-14) present different SAR at the dihalo benzyl substitution, with the most potent compounds (12d,e and 13c) showing similar (picomolar/nanomolar) anti-HIV-1 potency as the corresponding alpha-methyl analogues against wt HIV-1, and 10-100-fold increased potency (up to low nanomolar) against clinically relevant
K103N,
Y181C,
Y188L, IRLL98, and
K103N+
Y181C HIV-1 mutant strains, highlighting the importance of the alpha-methoxy substitution to provide highly efficient DABOs as ""second generation""
NNRTIs."