Discovery of new hit-molecules targeting Plasmodium falciparum through a global SAR study of the 4-substituted-2-trichloromethylquinazoline antiplasmodial scaffold
Antiplasmodial pharmacomodulation of CCl3-substituted quinazolines was made. Thienopyrimidine bioisosteres appeared more cytotoxic. Two quinoxaline bioisosteres displayed in vitro IC50 values of 0.4 and 0.5 µM on the K1 multi-resistant P. falciparum strain. These quinoxalines displayed low cytotoxicity on the human HepG2 cell line (CC50 ∼ 40 µM) and improved selectivity indices (77–100).