Hassan Abdalla E A, Parker William B, Allan Paula W, Montgomery John A, Secrist John A
Drug Discovery Division, Southern Research Institute, Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids. 2003 May-Aug;22(5-8):747-9. doi: 10.1081/NCN-120022625.
A selective metalation at the 6-CH3 over C-8 of 6-methylpurine derivative 6 was observed with softer counter cation (Na+ or K+) of the base, while the harder Li+ showed no selectivity. In the presence of N-fluorobenzenesulfonamide (NFSI), this property was utilized for the synthesis of 6-fluoromethylpurine derivatives 4 and 5 as potential toxins for suicide gene therapy.
