Search

A full account is given of the first syntheses of 6-mercaptopurine 7-N-oxide (4) and 6-methylthiopurine 7-N-oxide (5). The synthesis of 4 followed a "phenacylamine route", which started from condensation of 4, 6-dichloro-5-nitropyrimidine (15) with N-(4-methoxybenzyl)phenacylamine to form the phenacylaminopyrimidine derivative (11) and proceeded through conversion into the mercapto derivative, intramolecular cyclization between the NO2 nitrogen atom and the phenacyl carbanion to give 6-mercapto-9-(4-methoxybenzyl)purine 7-N-oxide (12), and removal of the 4-methoxybenzyl group. S-Methylation of 12 and removal of the 4-methoxybenzyl group afforded 5. The location of the oxygen function in 4, 5, and 12 was confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis of 5·H2O, which was shown to exist in the N(7)-OH form (19). A UV spectroscopic approach suggested that the neutral species of 4 exists in HO as the N(7)-OH tautomer (21), whereas that of 5 exists as an equilibrated mixture of the N(7)-oxide (5) and the N(7)-OH (19) tautomers. In the in vitro bioassay of antileukemic activity against murine L5178Y cells, the N-oxides 4 and 12 were found to be weakly cytotoxic.

The synthesis of 8-methylguanine 7-oxide (3) was accomplished via a "phenacylamine route", which started from condensation of alpha-(4-methoxybenzylamino)propiophenone (6), prepared by coupling of alpha-bromopropiophenone (4) and 4-methoxybenzylamine (5), with 2-amino-6-chloro-5-nitro-4(3H)-pyrimidinone (7) and proceeded through cyclization of the resulting phenacylaminopyrimidinone (8) and removal of the 4-methoxybenzyl group. The N-oxide 3 and its 9-arylmethyl derivatives 9 and 11 showed only very weak antileukemic activity and no antimicrobial activity.

A full account is given of the first chemical synthesis of the antitumor antibiotic guanine 7-oxide (5) and its 9-substituted derivatives (24a-k and 26). Coupling of appropriate primary amines (17a-e, g-k) with phanecyl bromide (16) produced, after treatment with HCl, the corresponding N-substituted phenacylamine hydrochlorides (18a-e, g-k). A similar phenacylation of 4-amino-1-butanol (21) failed to give the desired compound 18f, so that 21 was heated with 2-bromomethyl-2-phenyl-1, 3-dioxolane (20) at 150-155°C for 3h to furnish, after treatment with HCl, the amino ketal hydrochloride 22 in 40% yield. Deketalization of 22 with hot 2N aqueous HCl afforded 18f in 96% yield. Condensations of the free bases, generated in situ from the hydrochlorides 18a-l and 1N aqueous NaOH, with the chloropyrimidinone 6 were effected in aqueous EtOH at the boiling point for 20 min or at 25-30°C for 3-24h, giving the 6-phenacylamino-4-pyrimidinones 19a-l in 54-90% yields. On treatment with 2N aqueous NaOH at room temperature for 10-60 min, the nitropyrimidinones 19a-k cyclized to provide the 9-substituted guanine 7-oxides 24a-k in 61-98% yields. A similar alkali-treatment of 19l failed to yield guanine 7-oxide (5). However, removal of the 9-(arylmethyl) group from 24i-k was effected with conc, H2SO4 at room temperature for 1-3h in the presence of toluene, producing the target N-oxide 5 in 56-89% yields. In the in vitro bioassay of antileukemic activity against murine L5178Y cells, none of the 9-substituted guanine 7-oxides (24a-k and 26) was more effective than the parent, natural N-oxide 5. Within this series, however, the benzyl analogues 24g-k with or without alkoxy functions were more cytotoxic, with IC50's of 13.0-48.0μg/ml, than the alkyl analogues 24a-f.

Antibiotique inhibiteur de Candida albicans, a activite anticancereuse in vitro et in vivo, a activite antivirale. Utilisation de la purine nucleoside phosphorylase de Bacillus subtilis