Modeling studies of a furo [2, 3-d] pyrimidine GSK-3 hit compound 1 superimposed onto the X-ray crystal structure of a legacy pyrazolo [3, 4-c] pyridazine GSK-3 inhibitor 2 led to the identification of 4-acylamino-6-arylfuro [2, 3-d] pyrimidine template 3. Synthesis of analogues based on template 3 has resulted in a number of potent and selective GSK-3β inhibitors. The most potent and selective compound was the m-pyridyl analogue 24.