Pharmacological Potential of Pyrmidine Derivatives: A Review With Emphasis on Antiviral Effects and Virtual Screening Against Sars-Cov-2 Molecular Targets

The importance of R&D of new antivirals has been highly evident with the emergence of the pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. Pyrimidines are heterocyclic compounds with a broad biological spectrum. In this review we emphasize the antiviral application of pyrimidines. Scientific articles, drug and patent registrations were searched using terms involving antiviral pyrimidines. Between 2012 and 2022, more than 100 articles, which show the broad antiviral spectrum of these compounds, were added in this review. The publications of the last five years were prioritized. Anti-HIV applications were found, their use more evident within the framework of antivirals; among others found were anti-influenza, anti-arboviral, and anti-hepatitis viruses. The results found in the drug and patent databases corroborate the scenario observed in the analysis of scientific articles and demonstrate the importance of researching pyrimidine compounds in periods of great impact on global health. Additionally, through virtual screening of 119 pyrimidines from an in-house library, we found seventeen pyrimidines with high binding potential with the M-pro and RdRp proteins of SARS-CoV-2. Almost all seventeen compounds showed good pharmacokinetic and toxicological profile, mainly compounds 150 and 151 being considered promising for biological evaluation against SARS-CoV-2.