| Abstract: | 2′-Deoxyribofuranosyl and arabinofuranosyl nucleosides of certain purine-6-sulfenamides, sulfinamides and sulfonamides have been prepared by sequential amination and controlled oxidation of the corresponding 6-thiopurine nucleosides, and evaluated for antiviral and antitumor activities in mice. Amination of 2′-deoxy-6-thioinosine ( 4a ) and 9-β-D-arabinofuranosyl-6-thiopurine ( 4c ) with chloramine solution gave the corresponding 6-sulfenamides 5a and 5c , respectively, which on selective oxidation with 3-chloroperoxybenzoic acid (MCPBA) gave diastereomeric 9-(2-deoxy-β-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)purine-6-sulfinamide ( 6a ) and 9-β-D-arabinofuranosylpurine-6-sulfinamide ( 6c ), respectively. However, oxidation of 5a and 5c with excess of MCPBA gave the corresponding 6-sulfonamide derivatives 7a and 7c , respectively. Similar amination of 2′-deoxy-6-thioguanosine ( 4b ), ara-6-thioguanine ( 4d ) and α-2′-deoxy-6-thioguanosine ( 8 ) gave the respective 6-sulfenamide derivatives 5b, 5d and 9 . Controlled oxidation of 5b, 5d and 9 gave (R,S)-2-amino-9-(2-deoxy-β-D-erythro-pentofuranosyl)purine-6-sulfinamide ( 6b ), (R,S)-2-amino-9-β-D-arabinofuranosylpurine-6-sulfinamide ( 6d ) and the α-anomer of ( 6b) (10 ), respectively. The diastereomeric mixture of (R,S )-10 was partially resolved and the structure of S -10 was assigned by single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. Oxidation of 5b, 5d and 9 with excess of MCPBA afforded the respective 6-sulfonamide derivatives 7b, 7d and 11 . Nucleosides 5c and 7c were significantly active against Friend leukemia virus in mice, whereas 6c was somewhat less active. Of the 20 nucleosides evaluated, 12 exhibited biologically significant anti-L1210 activity in mice. Nucleosides 6b and 7a at 173 mg/kg/day × 1 showed a T/C of 153, whereas 7d at 800 mg/kg/day × 1 showed a T/C of 153 against L1210 leukemia. The α-nucleoside 9 at 480 mg/kg/day × 1 gave a T/C of 172. A single treatment with 6b, 7a, 7d and 9 reduced the body burdens of viable L1210 cells by more than 99.2%. The antileukemic activity of these novel nucleosides tended to parallel solubility. |
