2,3-Dihydrobenzofuran privileged structures as new bioinspired lead compounds for the design of mPGES-1 inhibitors

2,3-Dihydrobenzofurans are proposed as privileged structures and used as chemical platform to designsmall compound libraries. By combining molecular docking calculations and experimental verificationof biochemical interference, we selected some potential inhibitors of microsomal prostaglandin E2 synthase(mPGES)-1. Starting from low affinity natural product 1, by our combined approach we identifiedthe compounds 19 and 20 with biological activity in the low micromolar range. Our data suggest that the2,3-dihydrobenzofuran derivatives might be suitable bioinspired lead compounds for development ofnew generation mPGES-1 inhibitors with increased affinity.