Here we report on a novel class of enterovirus inhibitors that can be structurally described as 9-arylpurines. These compounds elicit activity against a variety of enteroviruses in the low microM range including Coxsackie virus A16, A21, A24, Coxsackie virus B3, and echovirus 9. Structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies indicate that a chlorine or bromine atom is required at position 6 of the purine ring for antiviral activity. The most selective compounds in this series inhibited Coxsackie virus B3 replication in a dose-dependent manner with EC(50) values around 5-8 microM. No toxicity on different cell lines was observed at concentrations up to 250 microM. Moreover, no cross-resistance to TBZE-029 and TTP-8307 CVB3 resistant strains was detected.