Syntheses,antitumor activities,and antiangiogenesis of exo‐3,6‐epoxy‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydrophthalimidoethanoyl‐ 5‐fluorouracil and its polymers

A new monomer, exo‐3,6‐epoxy‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydrophthalimidoethanoyl‐5‐fluorouracil (ETFU), was synthesized by the reaction of exo‐3,6‐epoxy‐1,2,3,6‐tetrahydrophthalimidoethanoyl chloride (ETPC) and 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU). The homopolymer of ETFU and its copolymers with acrylic acid (AA) and vinyl acetate (VAc) were prepared via photopolymerizations with 2,2‐dimethoxy‐2‐phenylacetophenone at 25 °C for 48 h. The structures of the synthesized monomer and polymers were identified by Fourier transform infrared, ¹H NMR, and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The ETFU contents in poly(ETFU‐co‐AA) and poly(ETFU‐co‐VAc) were 26 mol % and 26 mol %, respectively. The number‐average molecular weights of the polymers, as determined by gel permeation chromatography, ranged from 5600 to 17,000. The in vitro cytotoxicities of 5‐FU and the synthesized samples against mouse mammary carcinoma and human histiocytic lymphoma cancer cell lines increased in the following order: ETFU > 5‐FU > poly(ETFU‐co‐AA) > poly(ETFU) > poly(ETFU‐co‐VAc). The in vivo antitumor activities of the polymers against Balb/C mice bearing the sarcoma 180 tumor cells were greater than those of 5‐FU at all doses tested. The inhibitions of the samples for SV40 DNA replication and antiangiogenesis were much greater than the inhibition of the control. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 38: 4272–4281, 2000