Facile access to 4′-(N-acylsulfonamide) modified nucleosides and evaluation of their inhibitory activity against SARS-CoV-2 RNA cap N7-guanine-methyltransferase nsp14

N -Acylsulfonamides possess an additional carbonyl function compared to their sulfonamide analogues. Due to their unique physico-chemical properties, interest in molecules containing the N -acylsulfonamide moiety and especially nucleoside derivatives is growing in the field of medicinal chemistry. The recent renewal of interest in antiviral drugs derived from nucleosides containing a sulfonamide function has led us to evaluate the therapeutic potential of N -acylsulfonamide analogues. While these compounds are usually obtained by a difficult acylation of sulfonamides, we report here the easy and efficient synthesis of 20 4'-( N -acylsulfonamide) adenosine derivatives via he sulfo-click reaction. The target compounds were obtained from thioacid and sulfonyl azide synthons in excellent yields and were evaluated as potential inhibitors of the SARS-CoV-2 RNA cap N 7-guanine-methyltransferase nsp14.