Synthesis of novel peptidyl adenosine antibiotic analogs.

A small library of peptidyl adenosine antibiotic analogs was synthesized, under the Pilot Scale Library Program of the NIH Roadmap initiative, from 2',3'-O-isoproylideneadenosine-5'-carboxylic acid 2 in excellent yield. The coupling of the amino terminus of L-2-aminophenylbutyric methyl ester to a free 5'-carboxylic acid moiety of 2 followed by sodium hydroxide treatment led to carboxylic acid analog 4. Hydrolysis of this latter gave unprotected nucleoside analog 5. Intermediate 4 served as the precursor for the preparation of novel peptidyl adenosine analogs 6-18 in good yields and high purity through peptide coupling reactions to diverse amine derivatives. No marked anticancer and antimalaria activity was noted on preliminary cellular testing; however these analogs should be useful candidates for other types of biological activity.