| Abstract: | Additional information on the anticancer activity of 9-amino-9H-purine-6(1H)-thione and its derivatives was sought by the synthesis of some 9-(substituted amino)-6-(methylthio)-9H-purines in which the 9-substituent contained functional groups capable of either reversible or irreversible binding with an enzymatic site. Condensation of 9-amino-6-(methylthio)-9H-purine (1) with some carbonyl compounds followed by hydride reduction of the azomethine linkage in the intermediates leads to the 2-pyrrolylmethyl (8), 2,3,4-trihydroxybutyl (10), and the 1,5-dihydroxy-2- and 3-pentyl (11 and 12) compounds. A 4-hydroxybutyl derivative (13) was obtained by alkylation of 18, the 9-acetyl derivative of 1, with 4-chlorobutyl acetate followed by saponification. The cyclization of 13 and 11 with a sulfonyl chloride gave the 9-pyrrolidin-1-yl (27) and the 9-2-(tosyloxymethyl)pyrrolidin-1-yl] (28), respectively. Acylation of 1 with ethyl L-2-pyrrolidine-5-carboxylate and ethyl 1-methyl-5-pyrrolidone-3-carboxylate, respectively, in Me2SO containing NaH gave the corresponding amides 15 and 17. Alkylation of 18 with 1-bromo-2-chloroethane and epichlorohydrin gave the N-(2-chloroethyl) and N-(1,2-epoxy-3-propyl) derivatives 19 and 20. The chloro group of the chlorobutyl derivative of 18 was displaced with KSCN and NaN3, respectively, to give the thiocyanate and azido derivatives 23 and 24. Hydrogenation of the latter gave the amine (25), which was acylated with ethyl chloroformate to give the (ethoxycarbonyl)amino compound 26. None of these compounds showed activity against L1210 leukemia cells implanted ip in mice on a single-dose schedule, suggesting that the activity observed in the simpler 9-aminopurines resulted from cleavage of the hydrazino linkage to give pH-purine-6(1H)-thione. |
