Purines, nucleosides

Adenosine. Adenosine [58-61-7] (Ado), (29), a purine nucleoside, is an intracellular constituent acting as both an enzyme cofactor... 

Eig. 3. Purine nucleoside analogues found to be active against DNA vimses. 

Purine Nucleoside Derivatives. A number of purine nucleoside analogues are also found to be active against several DNA vimses (Fig. 3). The clinically active antiviral drug ara-A (9-P-D-arabinofuranosyladenine [5536-17-4] vidarabine, 23) is active against a number of DNA vimses in vivo and also inhibits certain RNA tumor vimses which repHcate through a DNA intermediate (43). Ara-A, was first synthesized in 1960 (44) and later... 

Nucleosides are much more water-soluble than the free bases because of the hydrophilicity of the sugar moiety. Like glycosides (see Chapter 7), nucleosides are relatively stable in alkali. Pyrimidine nucleosides are also resistant to acid hydrolysis, but purine nucleosides are easily hydrolyzed in acid to yield the free base and pentose. 

Another deviation from the normal displacement reaction of primary tosylates occurs in nucleoside derivatives (39, 81) where cyclonucleosides and anhydronucleosides are formed by participation of a nitrogen atom (as in purine nucleosides) and oxygen atom (as in pyrimidine nucleosides ), respectively. Iodonucleosides can result from these reactions only if these cyclic compounds are prone to attack by iodide ion. Several new examples of unexpected reactions during the solvolysis of sulfonate esters in sugar derivatives have been recorded in the past few years (2, 4,5,7,15,44,62,63,94). 

Although purine nucleosides can frequently be halogenated at the vacant imidazole carbon (see above), AMialogenosuccinimides in acetic acid tend to promote intramolecular cyclizations instead. It has been demonstrated that 2-bromoadenosine is not an intermediate in this process (Scheme 55), which is believed to involve initial attack by positive halogen at N-3. 

Cladribine (2-Chlordeoxyadenosine) is a synthetic purine nucleoside that is converted to an active cytotoxic metabolite by the deoxycytidine kinase. The drug is relatively selective for both normal and malignant lymphoid cells. 

Degrfeve B, De Clercq E, Balzarini J (1999) Bystander effect of purine nucleoside analogues in HSV-1 tk suicide gene therapy is superior to that of pyrimidine nucleoside analogues. Gene Ther 6 162-170... 

All these steps proceed to afford free or N -substituted crystalline cytidines 6 in high yields [11] (cf. the preparation of N (tetramethylene)cytidine 6b in 95.4% yield in Section 1.1.). This simple one-pot reaction is also very easy to perform on a technical scale, as are the subsequently discussed analogous silylation-aminations of purine nucleosides and other hydroxy-N-heterocycles (cf. Sections 4.2.4 and 4.2.5). The concept of silylation-activation while simultaneously protecting hydroxyl groups in alcohols, phenols, or phosphoric acids by silylation was subsequently rediscovered and appropriately termed transient protection [16-18]. 

Polar functional groups such as alcohols or phenols 11 or trimethylsilanol 4 are transformed by monofunctional silylating reagents Me3SiX 12 into their hpophilic and often volatile trimethylsilyl ethers 13 whereas water is converted into persilyl-ated water (=Me3SiOSiMe3, hexamethyldisiloxane, HMDSO, 7, b.p. 100 °C). The persilylation of phenols and, in particular, catechol (or hydroquinone) systems (Scheme 2.1) protects them efficiently against air oxidation even at temperatures of up to 180 °C. (cf, e.g., the silylation-amination of purine nucleosides with dopamine hydrochloride in Section 4.2.4)... 

Unfortunately, the two fuU papers on the silylation-amination of pyrimidine [49] and purine nucleosides [64] as discussed in Sections 4.2.3 and 4.2.4, were pubhshed in German and are thus not readily accessible, although a few detailed procedures from Sections 4.2.3 and 4.2.4 were subsequently published in English [65]. The third paper on the silylation-amination of aromatic hydroxy-N-hetero-cycles, however, as discussed in Section 4.2.5 was, fortunately, pubhshed in English [27]. 

Because aromatic purines and purine nucleosides and free purines such as hypo-xanthine and guanine 242 are readily silylated-aminated [64] (cf Scheme 4.24), it is obvious that 6-membered hydroxy-N-heterocycles are analogously silylated-aminated, with reactivity in the order given in Scheme 4.25 [73] X=OTf is the best leaving group and X=NHSiMe3 (cf the transamination as discussed in Section 4.2.4) is the weakest. 

The susceptibilities of some of these fluorinated purine nucleosides to the action of enzymes are now described. In contrast to the inertness of the 2 -deoxy-2 -fluoro- and 3 -deoxy-3 -fluorocytidine analogs 739, 744, and 821 towards cytidine deaminase, the adenosine compounds 867, 883, and 906 are readily deaminated - by the adenosine deaminase in erythrocytes and calf intestine, but the resulting (deaminated) inosine compounds (from 867 and 883), as well as 888, are highly resistant - to cleavage by purine nucleoside phosphorylase (to give hypoxanthine base for the first two). The reason was discussed. Both 867 and 883 can form the 5 -triphosphates, without deamination, in human erythrocytes or murine sarcoma cells in the presence of 2 -deoxycoformycin, an adenosine deaminase inhibitor, but... 

The biosynthesis of purines and pyrimidines is stringently regulated and coordinated by feedback mechanisms that ensure their production in quantities and at times appropriate to varying physiologic demand. Genetic diseases of purine metabolism include gout, Lesch-Nyhan syndrome, adenosine deaminase deficiency, and purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency. By contrast, apart from the orotic acidurias, there are few clinically significant disorders of pyrimidine catabolism. 

Liver, the major site of purine nucleotide biosynthesis, provides purines and purine nucleosides for salvage and utilization by tissues incapable of their biosynthesis. For example, human brain has a low level of PRPP amidotransferase (reaction 2, Figure 34-2) and hence depends in part on exogenous purines. Erythrocytes and polymorphonuclear leukocytes cannot synthesize 5-phosphoribosylamine (strucmre III, Figure 34-2)... 

Figure 34-8. Formation of uric acid from purine nucleosides byway of the purine bases hypoxanthine, xanthine, and guanine. Purine deoxyribonucleosides are degraded by the same catabolic pathwayand enzymes,all of which existin the mucosa of the mammalian gastrointestinal tract.

Adenosine Deaminase Purine Nucleoside Phosphorylase Deficiency... 

Adenosine deaminase deficiency is associated with an immunodeficiency disease in which both thymus-derived lymphocytes (T cells) and bone marrow-derived lymphocytes (B cells) are sparse and dysfunctional. Purine nucleoside phosphorylase deficiency is associated with a severe deficiency of T cells but apparently normal B cell function. Immune dysfunctions appear to result from accumulation of dGTP and dATP, which inhibit ribonucleotide reductase and thereby deplete cells of DNA precursors. 

Davoll, J., Lythgoe, B., Todd, A.R. (1948) Experiments on the Synthesis of Purine Nucleosides. Part XIX. A Synthesis of Adenosine. Journal of the Chemical Society, 967-969. 

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