title: 5-substituted arabinofuranosyluracil nucleosides: synthesis and antiviral properties.
abstract: A number of 5-alkyl (ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl) analogues of araU, their alpha-anomers and N3-isomers have been synthesized by a number of different procedures, based on the catalytic condensation of the appropriate 5-alkyl-2,4-bis-(trimethylsilyloxy)-pyrimidine with 2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-alpha-D-arabinofuranosyl chloride. The resulting protected nucleosides were deblocked by a new procedure based on the use of BF3 X Et2O in C2H5SH. The chloromercuri derivative of araU, on reaction with allyl chloride in the presence of Li2PdCl4, gave the 5-allyl derivative, which was catalytically reduced to the corresponding 5-propyl analogue. The antiviral activities of these compounds have been evaluated. 5-Allyl-araU showed moderate specific activity (MIC 20 micrograms/ml) against herpes simplex type 1 virus in PRK cell cultures. Structure-activity relationships are discussed for the 5-alkyl deoxy- and arabino- uracil nucleoside series.
mesh_terms: D000998:Antiviral Agents / Q000138:chemical synthesis*; D001086:Arabinofuranosyluracil / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000494:pharmacology; D055598:Chemical Phenomena; D002621:Chemistry; D002942:Circular Dichroism; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet / Q000379:methods; D013237:Stereoisomerism; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D014529:Uridine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*
chemical_list: D000998:Antiviral Agents; D001086:Arabinofuranosyluracil; D014529:Uridine