Discovery of Bicyclic Thymidine Analogues as Selective and High-Affinity Inhibitors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis Thymidine Monophosphate Kinase

Thymidine monophosphate kinase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TMPKmt) represents an attractive target for selectively blocking bacterial DNA synthesis. Hereby, we report on the discovery of a novel class of bicyclic nucleosides (10 and 11) and one dinucleoside (12), belonging to the most selective inhibitors of TMPKmt discovered so far.