Synthesis and biological activity of some 1-N-substituted 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-beta-D-glycopyranosylamine derivatives and related analogs.

Several 1-N-substituted derivative [haloacetyl-, glycyl-, (dimethyl)amino-acetyl-, azidoacetyl-, trifluoroacetyl-, and trifluoromethylsulfonyl-] of 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-3,4,6-tri-O-acetyl-beta-D-glucopyranosylamine (1) were synthesized as potential metabolic inhibitors of cellular-membrane glycoconjugates. Several fully acetylated derivatives were found to inhibit growth of mouse mammary adenocarcinoma TA3, leukemia L1210, or leukemia P-288 cells at 1-0.01 mM concentration in vitro. Some of these derivatives were less active after O-deacetylation. Analogs of 1 in which NH2-1 was replaced by OH- or OAc-1 were also active on the same cell systems. The growth-inhibitory activity was correlated with inhibition of the incorporation of 2-amino-deoxy-D-glucose and L-leucine into a macromolecular fraction.