A series of nitrogen-containing polyhydroxylated aromatics from caffeic acid phenethyl ester were designed and synthesized as HIV-1 integrase inhibitors. Most of these compounds exhibited potent inhibitory activities at micromolar concentrations against HIV-1 integrase in the 3'-end processing and the strand transfer. Their key structure-activity relationship was also discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.