SYNTHESES AND BIOLOGICAL-ACTIVITIES OF POLYMERS CONTAINING 3'-AZIDO-3'-DEOXYTHYMIDINE

The new monomer, 5'-O-methacryloyl-3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (MAZT) w as synthesized by the reaction of methacryloyl chloride and 3'-azido-3 '-deoxythymidine (AZT). Poly(MAZT) and copolymers of MAZT with vinyl a cetate (VAc) and maleic anhydride (MAH) were synthesized by radical po lymerizations. The synthesized MAZT and polymers were identified by H- 1 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), C-13 NMR, elemental analysis and g el permeation chromatography. The quantities of MAZT units in poly(MAZ T-co-VAc) and poly(MAZT-co-MAH) were 45 and 27 mol%, respectively. The weight average molecular weights of the polymers synthesized were in the range from 8800 to 17 600. The in vitro cytotoxicities of samples against K562 human leukaemia cell line at 100 mu g ml(-1) decreased in the following order: poly(MAZT-co-MAH) > poly(MAZT-co-VAc) > poly(MAZ T) > MAZT > AZT. The in vivo antitumour activities of the polymers syn thesized against Balb/C mice bearing sarcoma 180 tumour cells were gre ater than those of 5-fluorouracil at all concentrations.