Novel l-amino acid ester prodrugs of azacitidine: Design, enzymatic synthesis and the investigation of release behavior

Regioselective synthesis and anticancer evaluation of H2O2-activable nucleosides

We describe here the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of H2O2-activatable nucleosides via an efficient and regioselective functionalization of unprotected precursors. Biological evaluation of a H2O2-specific responsive prodrug of gemecitabin demonstrates an extremely fast activation, low toxicity and enhanced anticancer effects in two cell lines.

Biocatalytic approaches applied to the synthesis of nucleoside prodrugs

Nucleosides are valuable bioactive molecules, which display antiviral and antitumour activities. Diverse types of prodrugs are designed to enhance their therapeutic efficacy, however this strategy faces the troublesome selectivity issues of nucleoside chemistry. In this context, the aim of this review is to give an overview of the opportunities provided by biocatalytic procedures in the preparation of nucleoside prodrugs. The potential of biocatalysis in this research area will be presented through examples covering the different types of nucleoside prodrugs: nucleoside analogues as prodrugs, nucleoside lipophilic prodrugs and nucleoside hydrophilic prodrugs.