SYNTHESIS AND BIOLOGICAL-ACTIVITY OF THE NOVEL ADENOSINE-ANALOGS - 3-AMINO-6-(BETA-D-RIBOFURANOSYL)PYRAZOLO[3,4-C]PYRAZOLE AND 3-AMINO-1-METHYL-6-(BETA-D-RIBOFURANOSYL)PYRAZOLO[3,4-C]PYRAZOLE

Chemical modification of the 4-nitrile group in 5-amino-1-(2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-beta-D-ribofuranosyl)pyrazole-4-carbonitrile (1) afforded 5-amino-4-(5-methyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-1-(2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-beta-D-ribofuranosyl)pyrazole (3). The methylation of 3, via a three step procedure, gave 5-methylamino-4-(5-methyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)-1-(2,3,5-tri-O-benzyl-beta-D-ribofuranosyl)pyrazole (3a). The mononuclear heterocyclic rearrangement (m.h.r) of 3 and 3a, provided a convenient route to the novel azapentalene adenosine analogs 3-amino-6-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)pyrazolo[3,4-c]pyrazole (6) and 3-amino-1-methyl-6-(beta-D-ribofuranosyl)pyrazolo [3,4-c]pyrazole (6a), respectively. Compound 6 exhibited no cytotoxicity when screened in vitro against either mouse L1210 leukemic cells or human foreskin fibroblasts. Nor was it active against human cytomegalovirus. Compound 6a was designed and prepared to investigate the possibility that the lack of biological activity of 6 might be due to annular tautomerization limiting the ability of 6 to serve as a substrate for the activating enzyme adenosine kinase. This hypothesis was neither supported nor disproved by the results, as compound 6a was also inactive in both the antiproliferative and antiviral test systems.