Arylalkylidene rhodanine with bulky and hydrophobic functional group as selective HCV NS3 protease inhibitor.

Arylalkylidene rhodanines 2(a-d) inhibit HCV NS3 protease at moderate concentrations. They are better inhibitors of other serine proteases such as chymotrypsin and plasmin. However, the selectivity of arylmethyliden e rhodanines (8a, 9a) with bulkier and more hydrophobic functional groups increases by 13- and 25-fold towards HCV NS3 protease respectively.