Selective treatment of cancer: Synthesis, biological evaluation and structural elucidation of novel analogues of the antibiotic CC-1065 and the duocarmycins

Novel diastereomerically pure beta-D-galactosidic prodrugs (+)-12a-e of the cytotoxic antibiotics CC-1065 and the duocarmycins were prepared for an antibody directed enzyme prodrug therapy (ADEPT) using 4 as a substrate via a radical cyclization to give rac-5 and rac-6 followed by a chromatographic resolution of the enantiomers of rac-5, glycosidation and linkage to the DNA-binding units 10a-e. These only slightly toxic compounds can be toxified enzymatically by an antibody-p-D-galactosidase conjugate at the surface of malignant cells to give the cytotoxic drugs, which then alkylate DNA. The new prodrugs were tested in in vitro cytotoxicity assays showing excellent QIC(50) values of 4800 and 4300 for (+)-12a and (+)-12b, respectively. The absolute configuration of precursor (+)-5 was determined by comparison of the experimental CD spectrum with the theoretically predicted CD spectra and by X-ray structure analysis.