Recent advance in the development of N-heterocyclic derivatives as anti-SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors: A review

Abstract

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 hinders everything on earth, including physical and mental health, daily life and the global economy. Currently, there are no defined drugs and few vaccines available on the market to combat SARS-CoV-2. A number of organic compounds have been designed and tested against the virus, but they have not shown promising activities. N-heterocycles, which are abundant in nature, is a significant source of pharmacologically active compounds. N-heterocycles have the potential to exert Anti- SARS-CoV-2 activity via various antiviral mechanisms, and some of them, have already used in clinics or under clinical evaluations for the processing of COVID-19. Therefore, N-heterocycles occupies an important position in the discovery of novel anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents. The current study is an effort to collect information’s covering the articles published from 2019 to the beginning of this year 2022, regarding the recent development of N-heterocycles derivatives; indazole, triazolopyrimidine, pyrazolopyrimidine, quinoxaline, benzimidazole, benzodiazepine, indole, and quinoline, as potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents, their structure-activity relationship and mechanisms of action.