By means of structure-based bioisosterism approach, a series of novel purinylthioacetanilide derivatives were designed, synthesized and evaluated as potent HIV-1 non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs). Some of the tested compounds were found to be active against wild-type (WT) HIV-1(IIIB) with EC50 in the range of 0.78-4.46μM. Among them, LAD-8 displayed the most potent anti-HIV activity (EC50=0.78μM, SI=24). In addition, LBD-6 showed moderate activity against L100I mutant (EC50=5.64μM) and double mutant strain RES056 (EC50=22.24μM). Preliminary structure-activity relationships (SARs) were discussed in detail. Molecular modeling study was used to predict the optimal conformation in the NNRTI binding site, which may play a guiding role in further rational optimization.