A survey of isosteric replacements of the phosphonoalanine side chain coupled with a process of conformational constraint of a bisbenzimidazole-based, Zn2+-dependent inhibitor of hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS3 serine protease resulted in the identification of novel series of active compounds with extended side chains. However, Zn2+-dependent HCV NS3 inhibition was relatively insensitive to the structural variations examined but dependent on ...
