Triazene metabolism. V. Chemical and biological properties of N,N-bis-[(1-aryl-3-methyltriazen-3-yl)-methyl]-methylamines: potential prodrugs for the cytotoxic monomethyltriazenes.

N,N-Bis-[(1-aryl-3-methyltriazen-3-yl)-methyl]-methylamines, 'bistriazenes', have anti-tumour activity against the TLX5 and PC6 mouse tumours and inhibit the growth of tumour cells growing in culture, without metabolic activation. The biological activity of the bistriazene appears to derive from facile hydrolysis to the cytotoxic monomethyltriazene, Ar-N = N-NHMe, and it is suggested that the bistriazene may be a good prodrug from for the 'active' metabolite of the anti-tumour dimethyltriazene, Ar-N-N = N-NME2. A kinetic study of the bistriazene hydrolysis shows that the reaction is retarded by electron-withdrawing substituents in the aryl group. The results can be interpreted by a mechanism in which the bistriazene behaves as an 'animal' (i.e. N-CH2-N) and undergoes anchimerically assisted fragmentation, via an iminium ion intermediate, to the monomethyltriazene.