the invention will now be described in detail by way of reference only to the following non - limiting examples . micromass platform ii mass spectrometer operating in positive ion electrospray mode , mass range 100 - 1000 amu . column : 3 . 3 cm × 4 . 6 mm id , 3 μm abz + plus flow rate : 3 ml / min injection volume : 5 μl solvent a : 95 % acetonitrile + 0 . 05 % formic acid solvent b : 0 . 1 % formic acid + 10 mmolar ammonium acetate gradient : 0 % a / 0 . 7 min , 0 - 100 % a / 3 . 5 min , 100 % a / 1 . 1 min , 100 - 0 % a / 0 . 2 min the prep column used was a supelcosil abzplus ( 10 cm × 2 . 12 cm ) uv wavelength : 200 - 320 nm flow : 20 ml / min injection volume : 1 ml solvent a : 0 . 1 % formic acid solvent b : 95 % acetonitrile + 5 % formic acid gradient : 100 % a / 1 min , 100 - 80 % a / 9 min , 80 - 1 % a / 3 . 5 min , 1 % a / 1 . 4 min , 1 - 100 % a / 0 . 1 min the prep column used was a supelcosil abzplus ( 10 cm × 2 . 12 cm ). uv wavelength : 230 nm flow : 4 ml / min injection volume : 2 ml solvent a : acetonitrile + 0 . 05 % tfa solvent b : water + 0 . 1 % tfa micromass platform ii mass spectrometer operating in positive ion electrospray mode , mass range 100 - 1000 amu . column : 3 . 3 cm × 4 . 6 mm id , 3 μm abz + plus flow rate : 3 ml / min injection volume : 5 μl solvent a : 95 % acetonitrile + 0 . 05 % formic acid solvent b : 0 . 1 % formic acid + 10 mmolar ammonium acetate gradient : 0 % a / 0 . 7 min , 0 - 100 % a / 3 . 5 min , 100 % a / 1 . 1 min , 100 - 0 % a / 0 . 2 min waters zq mass spectrometer operating in positive ion electrospray mode , mass range 100 - 1000 amu column : 3 . 3 cm × 4 . 6 mm id , 3 μm abz + plus flow rate : 3 ml / min injection volume : 5 μl solvent a : 95 % acetonitrile + 0 . 05 % formic acid solvent b : 0 . 1 % formic acid + 10 mmolar ammonium acetate gradient : 0 % a / 0 . 7 min , 0 - 100 % a / 3 . 5 min , 100 % a / 1 . 1 min , 100 - 0 % a / 0 . 2 min the prep column used was a supelcosil abzplus ( 10 cm × 2 . 12 cm ). uv wavelength : 230 nm flow : 4 ml / min injection volume : 2 ml solvent a : acetonitrile + 0 . 05 % tfa solvent b : water + 0 . 1 % tfa gradient : 0 - 40 % a / 20 min , 40 % a / 20 min , 40 - 100 % a / 0 . 3 min , 100 % a / 15 min , 100 - 0 % a / 3 min the prep column used was a supelcosil abzplus ( 10 cm × 2 . 12 cm ) uv wavelength : 200 - 320 nm flow : 20 ml / min injection volume : 1 ml solvent a : 0 . 1 % formic acid solvent b : 95 % acetonitrile + 5 % formic acid gradient : 100 % a / 1 min , 100 - 80 % a / 9 min , 80 - 1 % a / 3 . 5 min , 1 % a / 1 . 4 min , 1 - 100 % a / 0 . 1 min ( 4s , 5r , 6r )- 5 - acetylamino - 4 - azido - 6 -[( s )- 4 - nitrophenoxycarbonyloxy )-( 2 - oxo -[ 1 , 3 ] dioxolan - 4r - yl )- methyl ]- 5 , 6 - dihydro - 4h - pyran - 2 - carboxylic acid methylester ( see eur . j . med . chem . 1999 , 34 , 563 - 574 ) ( 2 . 00 g , 3 . 8 mmol ) was dried by azeotroping 3 times from anhydrous toluene and then dissolved in anhydrous acetonitrile ( 20 ml ) with the addition of a few 3 angstrom molecular sieve pellets . the stirred solution was treated with n - tert - butoxycarbonyl 1 , 4 - diaminobutane ( 0 . 72 g , 3 . 8 mmol ) and triethylamine ( 0 . 43 g , 4 . 2 mmol ). the mixture was stirred for 16 h under a nitrogen atmosphere . volatiles were removed in vacuo to afford a yellow residue . this was redissolved in etoac ( 50 ml ), washed with 0 . 5m hcl ( 30 ml ) then brine ( 30 ml ). the solution was dried ( na 2 so 4 ) and solvent evaporated in vacuo to afford a cream coloured foam . further purification was by biotage flash chromatography , eluant initially etoac : cyclohexane ( 1 : 1 ) then etoac . evaporation of solvent in vacuo gave intermediate 1 ( 1 . 26 g , 58 % yield ) as a white solid . lc / ms ( method b ) showed mh + = 571 ; t ret = 2 . 87 min intermediate 1 ( 0 . 76 g , 1 . 33 mmol ) was dissolved in ethanol ( 24 ml ) and subjected to catalytic hydrogenation over lindlar catalyst ( 0 . 095 g ) for 16 h . catalyst was removed by filtration and evaporation of solvent in vacuo gave intermediate 2 ( 0 . 72 g , 99 % yield ) as a cream coloured foam . lc / ms ( method a ) showed mh + = 545 ; t ret = 2 . 24 min intermediate 2 ( 0 . 72 g , 1 . 32 mmol ) was dissolved in tetrahydrofuran ( 7 ml ) and treated with n , n ′- bis -( tert - butoxycarbonyl )- 1 - guanylpyrazole ( 0 . 45 g , 1 . 45 mmol ). the mixture was stirred under a nitrogen atmosphere for 16 h . volatiles were removed in vacuo to give a solid residue which was purified by biotage flash chromatography ; eluant initially etoac : cyclohexane ( 1 : 1 ) then etoac : cyclohexane ( 5 : 3 ). evaporation of solvent in vacuo afforded intermediate 3 ( 0 . 48 g , 46 % yield ) as a white solid . lc / ms ( method a ) showed mh + = 787 ; t ret = 3 . 64 min intermediate 3 ( 0 . 48 g , 0 . 61 mmol ) was dissolved in dichloromethane ( 19 ml ). the solution was cooled in an ice bath and trifluoroacetic acid ( 19 ml ) was added portionwise over 5 minutes . the mixture was then stirred for 1 h under a nitrogen atmosphere before being allowed to warm to ambient temperature and stirred a further 16 h . volatiles were removed in vacuo , and the residue azeotroped from toluene to remove remaining trifluoroacetic acid . trituration with diethyl ether ( 20 ml ) afforded a white solid which was separated to give intermediate 4 ( 0 . 50 g ). lc / ms ( method b ) showed ( m − h ) − = 485 ; t ret = 0 . 52 min . ( 4s , 5r , 6r )- 5 - acetylamino - 4 - azido - 6 -[( s )- 4 - nitrophenoxycarbonyloxy )-( 2 - oxo -[ 1 , 3 ] dioxolan - 4r - yl )- methyl ]- 5 , 6 - dihydro - 4h - pyran - 2 - carboxylic acid methylester ( see eur . j . med . chem . 1999 , 34 , 563 - 574 ) ( 4 . 0 g ) was azeotroped with toluene ( 50 ml ) and dissolved in mecn ( 40 ml ) and triethylamine ( 1 . 12 ml ) and 3 - aminopropionic acid t - butyl ester hydrochloride ( 1 . 396 g ) added . after 3 days at rt , the solvent was removed and the residue diluted with etoac ( 150 ml ). this was washed with 5 % citric acid solution ( 2 × 50 ml ), dried ( mgso 4 ) and concentrated . purification by biotage eluting with 1 : 1 cyclohexane : etoac , then 60 : 40 then 65 : 35 cyclohexane : etoac gave intermediate 6 as a colourless foam ( 3 . 45 g ). 1 h - nmr ( 400mhz , cdcl 3 ) δ 6 . 72 ( d , 1h ), 5 . 97 ( d , 1h ), 5 . 53 ( t , 1h ), 5 . 40 ( t , 1h ), 5 . 03 - 4 . 95 ( m , 2h ), 4 . 92 ( dd , 1h ), 4 . 74 - 4 . 64 ( m , 2h ), 3 . 83 ( s , 3h ), 3 . 64 - 3 . 54 ( m , 1h ), 3 . 38 - 3 . 27 ( m , 2h ), 2 . 65 - 2 . 56 ( m , 1h ), 2 . 52 - 2 . 43 ( m , 1h ), 2 . 06 ( s , 3h ), 1 . 70 ( s , 1h ), 1 . 48 ( s , 9h ). similarly prepared to intermediate 2 from intermediate 6 . lc / ms ( green method ) mh + 504 , t ret = 2 . 22 min lc / ms ( green method ) mh + 744 , t ret = 3 . 66 min intermediate 8 ( 1 . 44 g ), trifluoroacetic acid ( 20 ml ), dichloromethane ( 20 ml ) and anisole ( 2 ml ) were stirred at rt for 3 h after which the volatiles were removed in vacuo . the residue was triturated with et 2 o ( 2 × 25 ml ) and then dried in vacuo to afford intermediate 9 as a white solid ( 1 . 22g ). lc / ms ( green method ) mh + 488 , t ret = 1 . 25 min preparation of compound 9 by reaction of intermediate 5 and succinic acid the aminopropyl intermediate 5 was prepared following a similar sequence of steps to that described for the analogous aminobutyl intermediate 4 . succinic acid ( 4 . 21 mg , 0 . 0357 mmole ), intermediate 5 ( 50 mg , 0 . 071 mmole ) and benzotriazol - 1 - yloxy - tris ( dimethylamino ) phosphonium hexafluorophosphate ( bop ) ( 37 . 7 mg , 0 . 0852 mmole ) were dissolved in dmf ( 2 ml ) to which was added di - isopropylethylamine ( dipea , 91 . 8 mg , 0 . 71 mmole ). the resulting mixture was stirred at room temperature for 5 hours . the reaction mixture was purified by reverse phase hplc using a waters symmetry c18 column ( 5 micron 19 × 100 mm ), and gradient elution as shown in the following table , to afford the protected dimer ( 12 . 8 mg , 35 %, ms 1027 . 4 ( m + h ) + the protected dimeric compound ( 12 . 5 mg , 0 . 0121 mmole ) was dissolved in a mixture of water / methanol / triethylamine in the ratio 4 : 4 : 1 ( 1 . 5 ml ) and stirred at room temperature for 1 hour then evaporated to dryness under reduced pressure . remaining triethylamine was removed by repeated addition of water and evaporation under reduced pressure . the remaining residue was purified by reverse phase hplc using a waters symmetry c18 column ( 5 micron , 19 × 100 mm ), and gradient elution as shown in the following table , to afford the dimer 9 as a white solid ( 7 . 5 mg , 65 %) after freeze - drying . 1 h - nmr ( d 2 o ) δ ( ppm ): 1 . 64 ( br , 4h ); 1 . 94 ( s , 6h ); 3 . 06 ( br , 4h ); 3 . 17 ( m , 6h ); 3 . 48 ( dd , 2h ); 3 . 63 ( dd , 2h ); 4 . 05 ( m , 2h ); 4 . 10 ( dd , 2h ); 4 . 39 ( dd , 2h ); 4 . 49 ( dd , 2h ); 4 . 91 ( dd , 2h ); 5 . 82 ( d , 2h ). compounds numbered 1 - 8 , 10 - 14 and 21 - 25 in table 1 were each prepared by coupling the correct aminoalkyl compound ( e . g . intermediate 4 or 5 ) with the appropriate dicarboxylic acid following similar conditions to those described in example 1 . compounds numbered 15 - 18 in table 1 were prepared from the carboxy intermediate 9 by coupling with the appropriate diamine and then deprotection following similar conditions to that given in example 1 . compounds numbered 19 and 20 in table 1 were prepared from coupling of the glycine carboxy analog of intermediate 9 with the appropriate diamine . cytopathic effect ( cpe ) assays were performed essentially as described by watanabe et al . ( j . virological methods , 1994 48 257 ). mdck cells were infected with a defined inoculum of virus ( determined by experimentation to be the minimum sufficient to cause adequate cpe in 72 hours and to be susceptible to control compounds at concentrations considered to be consistent with published norms ) in the presence serial dilutions of compounds of the invention . cultures were incubated for up to 72 hours at 37 ° c . in a 5 % co 2 atmosphere . the extent of cpe and hence viral replication was determined via metabolism of the viral dye 3 -( 4 , 5 - dimethylthiazol - 2 - yl )- 2 , 5 - diphenyltetrazolium bromide ( mtt ) according to published methods ( see for example , watanabe et al ., 1994 ). the compound concentration that inhibited cpe by 50 % ( id 50 ) was calculated using a computer program for curve fitting . influenza a / sydney / 5 / 97 and b / harbin / 7 / 95 viruses were assayed and the results are shown in table 1 . comparable data for a specifically disclosed compound in wo 00 / 55149 and for compound a is also shown in table 1 . cytopathic effect ( cpe ) assays were performed essentially as described by watanabe et al . ( j . virological methods , 1994 48 257 ). mdck cells were infected with a defined inoculum of virus ( determined by experimentation to be the minimum sufficient to cause adequate cpe in 72 hours and to be susceptible to control compounds at concentrations considered to be consistent with published norms ) in the presence serial dilutions of compounds of the invention . cultures were incubated for up to 72 hours at 37 ° c . in a 5 % co 2 atmosphere . the extent of cpe and hence viral replication was determined via metabolism of the viral dye 3 -( 4 , 5 - dimethylthiazol - 2 - yl )- 2 , 5 - diphenyltetrazolium bromide ( mtt ) according to published methods ( see for example , watanabe et al ., 1994 ). the compound concentration that inhibited cpe by 50 % ( id 50 ) was calculated using a computer program for curve fitting . influenza a / sydney / 5 / 97 and b / harbin / 7 / 95 viruses were assayed and the results are shown in table 2 . comparable data for a specifically disclosed compound in wo 00 / 55149 and for compound a is also shown in table 2 . + data provided in wo 00 / 55149 related to the virus h3n2 isolate a / victoria / 3 / 75 rather than a h3n2 isolate a / sydney / 5 / 97 . when comparing such data the person skilled in the art will appreciate that differences in antiviral potency are not uncommon for a given compound when analysed against several different viruses in vitro . for example , woods et al ( antimicrob agents chemother 1993 37 : 1473 - 9 ) have reported that compound a exhibits a wide range of ec50 values ( from 0 . 02 to 0 . 16 um ) in in vitro assays involving recent clinical isolates . accordingly , compound 8 was found to be more potent in cpe assays involving the recent influenza a h3n2 isolate a / sydney / 5 / 97 than the earlier h3n2 isolate a / victoria / 3 / 75 . data provided in table 2 demonstrate that the compounds e1 - e5 , in addition to being substantially more potent than the highly active compound a , are even more potent against a / sydney / 5 / 97 and substantially more potent against the recent influenza b isolate b / harbin / 7 / 95 than compounds 8 and 10 of wo 00 / 55149 . madin darby canine kidney ( mdck ) cells are seeded into six well tissue culture plates and grown to confluency via standard methods . influenza viruses are diluted in a minimal volume of phosphate buffered saline supplemented with 0 . 2 % bovine serum albumin to yield an estimated titre of 50 - 100 plaque forming units ( pfu ) per well . after adsorption to the mdck cells for one hour at 37 ° c . in a 5 % co 2 atmosphere the viral inocula is aspirated and replaced with viral growth media ( minimal eagle &# 39 ; s media supplemented with bsa , trypsin and insulin / transferrin / selenium at optimal concentrations ) containing sufficient agar or agarose ( generally 1 - 2 %) to cause the media to gel at room temperature and at 37 ° c . in a 5 % co 2 atmosphere until plaques develop ( generally 2 - 4 days ). plaques can be visualised with a suitable stain ( e . g . 0 . 4 % crystal violet in formal saline ) before counting . antiviral potency is expressed as the concentration of test article which reduces plaque numbers by 50 % of the untreated control value ( ec 50 ). rodents are anaesthetised and dosed with compound of interest by the intra - tracheal route at a dose volume of 0 . 8 ml / kg . the rodent is then held in the vertical position until full recovery is achieved . at different time points , for example , 2 , 8 , 24 and 48 hours post - dose , levels of compound in the lung tissue are assessed by analytical methods . any analytical method suitable for detection of this type of compound may be used . the time at which levels of compound fall below the sensitivity of the analytical techniques identified will determine the residency time of the compound in lung tissue . the rat lung retention data for selected compounds is shown below . please note that all experiments included a co - dosed internal standard , namely compound 3 of international patent publication no . wo 02 / 20514 , to permit comparison . the data are expressed as a ratio with respect to this compound , the structure of which is shown below . the data for compound a is included for comparison purposes . the compounds of the invention have significantly greater retention at 7 days than compound a when expressed as a ratio of compound concentration to standard concentration . the protocol for infecting mice has been described previously ( 1 - 4 ). mildly anaesthetised mice are inoculated into the external nares with influenza virus . treatment procedure and regimen . a single dose of compound is administered at a defined time point up to 10 days prior to infection , preferably 4 - 7 days prior to infection , or following infection , preferably immediately following infection and up to 48 hours post infection . in most experiments , a non - lethal strain of influenza is used , and efficacy is assessed by reductions in lung virus titre . for mice given compound prior to infection , lungs are removed post infection either on a single day , or on days following infection , preferably days 1 - 4 post infection . homogenised lung samples are assayed for virus using established methods , and the titres of viral load estimated and compared to titres of virus in lungs of untreated mice . in those experiments where a mouse - adapted lethal strain of influenza is used , efficacy is assessed by an increase in survival rate and / or numbers of survivors , as compared to untreated mice . 1 . ryan , d . m ., j . ticehurst , m . h . dempsey , and c . r . penn , 1994 . inhibition of influenza virus replication in mice by gg167 ( 4 - guanidino - 2 , 4 - dideoxy - 2 , 3 - dehydro - n - acetylneuraminic acid ) is consistent with extracellular activity of viral neuraminidase ( sialidase ). antimicrob . agents and chemother . 38 ( 10 ): 2270 - 2275 . 2 . von itzstein m ., w .- y . wu , g . b . kok , m . s . pegg , j . c . dyason , b . jin , t . v . phan , m . l . smythe , h . f . white , s . w . oliver , p . m . colman , j . n . varghese , d . m . ryan , j . m . woods , r . c . bethell , v . j . hogham , j . m . cameron , and c . r . penn . 1993 . rational design of potent sialidase - based inhibitors of influenza virus replication . nature ( london ) 363 : 418 - 423 . 3 . woods , j . m ., r . c . bethell , j . a . v . coates , n . healey , s . a . hiscox , b . a . pearson , d . m . ryan , j . ticehurst , j . tilling , s . a . walcott , and c . r . penn . 1993 . 4 - guanidino - 2 , 4 - dideoxy - 2 , 3 - dehydro - n - acetylneuramic acid is a highly effective inhibitor both of the sialidase ( neuraminidase ) and of growth of a wide range of influenza a and b viruses in vitro . antimicrob . agents chemother . 37 : 1473 - 1479 . 4 . robert j fenton , peter j morley , ian j owens , david gower , simon parry , lee crossman and tony wong ( 1999 ). chemoprophylaxis of influenza a virus infections , with single doses of zanamivir , demonstrates that zanamivir is cleared slowly from the respiratory tract . antimicrob . agents and chemother . 43 , 11 , 2642 - 2647 .
the invention relates to compounds of general formula ; in which r is an amino or guanidino group ; r 2 is acetyl or trifluoroacetyl ; x is conh , nhco or o ; n is an integer from 2 to 6 ; and y is c 2 - c 9 alkyl c 3 - 8 cycloalkyl , c 1 - c 4 alkoxyalkyl , an amino acid or dipeptide , or a pharmaceutically acceptable derivative thereof , methods for their preparation , pharmaceutical formulations containing them or their use in the prevention or treatment of a viral infection .