5, 6-ring annulated indole derivatives and use thereof

1. A compound having the formula:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof,

wherein ring Z, of formula (I), is cyclopentyl or cyclopentenyl wherein ring Z may be optionally substituted on one or more ring carbon atoms with substituents, which are the same or different, and which are selected from alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, halo, haloalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, hydroxy, —CN, —C(O)R 8 , —C(O)OR 9 , —C(O)N(R 9 ) 2 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —OR 9 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —N(R 9 ) 2 , —NHC(O)R 8 , —NHSO 2 R 11 , —S(O) p R 11 and —SO 2 N(R 9 ) 2 ;

R 1 is —CH 2 —;

R 2 is —C(O)OR 9 or —C(O)N(R 9 )SO 2 R 11 ;

R 3 is

R 4 and R 7 are each independently selected from H, alkyl, F, Cl, —CF 3 , —OH, —O—alkyl, —OCF 3 , —NH 2 and —NHSO 2 -alkyl H;

each occurrence of R 8 is independently H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -aryl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -cycloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -cycloalkenyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heterocycloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heterocycloalkenyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heteroaryl, haloalkyl or hydroxyalkyl;

each occurrence of R 9 is H;

R 10 is heteroaryl, wherein said heteroaryl group can be optionally and independently substituted with up to 4 substituents, which are each independently selected from H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -cycloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -cycloalkenyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —heterocycloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heterocycloalkenyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heteroaryl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -haloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -hydroxyalkyl, halo, hydroxy, —OR 9 , —CN, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —C(O)R 8 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —C(O)OR 9 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —C(O)N(R 9 ) 2 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —OR 9 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —N(R 9 ) 2 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NHC(O)R 8 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NR 8 C(O)N(R 9 ) 2 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NHSO 2 R 11 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —S(O) p R 11 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —SO 2 N(R 9 ) 2 and —SO 2 N(R 9 )C(O)N(R 9 ) 2 ;

each occurrence of R 11 is independently alkyl;

each occurrence of R 12 is independently H, halo, —N(R 9 ) 2 , —OR 9 , alkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, heterocycloalkyl or heterocycloalkenyl, wherein a cycloalkyl, cycloalkenyl, heterocycloalkyl or heterocycloalkenyl group can be optionally and independently substituted with up to 4 substituents, which are each independently selected from alkyl, halo, haloalkyl, hydroxyalkyl, hydroxy, —CN, —C(O)alkyl, —C(O)Oalkyl, —C(O)NHalkyl, —C(O)N(alkyl) 2 , —O-alkyl, —NH 2 , —NH(alkyl), —N(alkyl) 2 , —NHC(O)alkyl, —NHSO 2 alkyl, —SO 2 alkyl or —SO 2 NH-alkyl, or two R 12 groups, together with the carbon atoms to which they are attached, join to form a cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl or C═O group;

each occurrence of R 20 is independently H, alkyl, aryl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl, or both R 20 groups and the carbon atoms to which they are attached, join to form a cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl or heteroaryl group wherein a cycloalkyl, cycloheteroalkyl, aryl or heteroaryl group can be substituted with up to 4 groups, which are each independently selected from alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, halo, hydroxy, —OR 9 , —CN, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -cycloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -cycloalkenyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heterocycloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heterocycloalkenyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -haloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -hydroxyalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —C(O)R 8 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —C(O)OR 9 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —C(O)N(R 9 ) 2 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —OR 9 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NR 9 ) 2 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NHC(O)R 8 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NR 8 C(O)N(R 9 ) 2 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NHSO 2 R 11 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —S(O) p R 11 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —SO 2 N(R 9 ) 2 and —SO 2 N(R 9 )C(O)N(R 9 ) 2 ;

each occurrence of R 30 is independently H, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aryl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -cycloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -cycloalkenyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heterocycloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heterocycloalkenyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -heteroaryl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -haloalkyl, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q -hydroxyalkyl, halo, hydroxy, —OR 9 , —CN, —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —C(O)R 8 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NHC(O)R 8 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NR 8 C(O)N(R 9 ) 2 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —NHSO 2 R 11 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —S(O) p R 11 , —[C(R 12 ) 2 ] q —SO 2 N(R 9 ) 2 or —SO 2 N(R 9 )C(O)N(R 9 ) 2 , or two adjacent R 30 groups, together with the carbon atoms to which they are attached, join to form a -3- to 7-membered ring selected from aryl, cycloalkyl, heteroaryl and heterocycloalkyl;

each occurrence of p is independently 0, 1 or 2; and

each occurrence of q is independently an integer ranging from 0 to 4.

2. The compound of claim 1 , wherein R 10 is a bicyclic heteroaryl group, which can be optionally substituted with up to 3 substituents, which are the same or different, and are selected from alkyl, cycloalkyl, heterocycloalkyl, halo, haloalkyl, —O-haloalkyl, —OH, —CN, —NH 2 , —NH-alkyl, —N(alkyl) 2 or —NHSO 2 -alkyl.

3. The compound of claim 2 wherein ring Z is:

wherein a dotted line represents an optional and additional bond, and wherein the above ring Z groups can be optionally substituted as set forth above in claim 1 .

4. The compound of claim 3 , wherein

R 2 is —C(O)OH or —C(O)NHSO 2 R 11 ;

R 3 is

each of which can be optionally substituted with up to 3 substituents, which are the same or different, and are selected from alkyl, —CF 3 , —CN, —C(O)CH 3 , —C(O)NH 2 , —C(O)NHalkyl, F, Cl, —OH, —OCF 3 , —NH 2 , —NHalkyl, —NHC(O)NH 2 , —NHC(O)NH-alkyl, —NHSO 2 alkyl, —S(O) 2 -alkyl and —SO 2 NHalkyl;

ring Z is

wherein the above ring Z can be optionally substituted as set forth above in claim 1 ; and

R 4 and R 7 are each independently selected from H, methyl, F, Cl, —CF 3 , —OH, methoxy, —OCF 3 , —NH 2 or —NHSO 2 CH 3 .

5. A compound having the structure:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

6. A pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one compound of claim 1 or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and at least one pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

7. A pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one compound of claim 5 or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and at least one pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

8. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 6 , further comprising at least one additional antiviral agent, wherein the additional antiviral agent is not a compound of claim 1 .

9. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 8 , wherein the at least one additional antiviral agent is selected from: an HCV polymerase inhibitor; an interferon; a RNA replication inhibitor; an antisense agent; a therapeutic vaccine; a protease inhibitor; an antibody therapy (monoclonal or polyclonal); and any agent useful for treating an RNA-dependent polymerase-related disorder.