Synthesis and antiviral and cytostatic properties of 3'-deoxy-3'-fluoro- and 2'-azido-3'-fluoro-2',3'-dideoxy-D-ribofuranosides of natural heterocyclic bases

A series of 3'-deoxy-3'-fluoro- and 2'-azido-2',3'-dideoxy-3'-fluoro-D-ribofuranosides of natural heterocyclic bases have been synthesized with the use of universal carbohydrate precursors, viz., 1-O-acetyl-2,5-di-O-benzoyl-3-deoxy-3-fluoro-D-ribofuranose and methyl 2-azido-5-O-benzoyl-2,3-dideoxy-3-fluoro-beta-D-ribofuranoside, respectively. The cytostatic and antiviral activity of the compounds was evaluated against a variety of tumor cell lines and DNA/RNA viruses, respectively. As the most active compound, from both a cytostatic and antiviral activity viewpoint, emerged 3'-deoxy-3'-fluoroadenosine. It inhibited the proliferation of some tumor cell lines (i.e. murine leukemia L1210 and human T-lymphocyte MT-4) at a concentration of 0.2-2 micrograms/mL, and proved inhibitory to the replication of positive-stranded RNA viruses (i.e. polio, Coxsackie, Sindbis, Semliki forest), double-stranded RNA viruses (i.e. reo), and some DNA viruses (i.e. vaccinia) at a concentration of 1-4 micrograms/mL, which is well below the cytotoxicity threshold (40 micrograms/mL).