Abstract A novel series of 3-benzyloxy-linked pyrimidinylphenylamine derivatives (8a–8s) was designed, synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anti-HIV activity in MT-4 cell cultures. Most of the compounds inhibited wild-type (wt) HIV-1 replication in the lower micromolar concentration range (EC 50= 0.05–35 μM) with high selectivity index (SI) values (ranged from 10 to> 4870). In particular, 8h and 8g displayed excellent antiretroviral ...