In our search for new, safer anti-HCMV agents, we discovered that the natural product Arcyriaflavin A (1a) was a potent inhibitor of HCMV replication in cell culture. A series of analogues (symmetrical indolocarbazoles) was synthesised to investigate structure–activity relationships in this series against a range of herpes viruses (HCMV, VZV, HSV1, and 2). This identified a number of novel, selective and potent inhibitors of HCMV, 12, 13-dihydro- ...