Abstract
A series of new 5-halogeno-1-(ß-L-arabinofuranosyl)uracils and their cytosine analogues were synthesized by halogenation of ara-L-uridine and ara-L-cytidine, respectively. The 5-(2-thienyl) and 5-halogenothienyl derivatives of both series were also prepared in excellent yields by Stille coupling followed by halogenation. All of these syntheses were based on benzoyl-protected derivatives. In vitro cytotoxicity experiments carried out using L1210 mouse leukemia cells showed that 5-(2-thienyl)-ara-L-uridine was the most potent compound of the new compounds; the majority of the analogues were not effective up to 200 μM concentrations.
Acknowledgments
The authors are indebted to Mrs. Erzsébet Braun for her valuable assistance in the synthetic work and to Dr. Pal Szabo for the mass spectrometry analyses.