Mitomycins syntheses: a recent update Jean-Christophe Andrez Review Open Access Address: Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry 2009, 5, No. 33. Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, 2036 Main doi:10.3762/bjoc.5.33 Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T1Z1, Canada Received: 09 January 2009 Email: Accepted: 28 May 2009 Jean-Christophe Andrez -
[email protected] Published: 08 July 2009 Editor-in-Chief: J. Clayden Keywords: antitumour; bioactivity; mitomycin; mitosene; synthesis © 2009 Andrez; licensee Beilstein-Institut. License and terms: see end of document. Abstract Mitomycins are a class of very potent antibacterial and anti-cancer compounds having a broad activity against a range of tumours. They have been used in clinics since the 1960’s, and the challenges represented by their total synthesis have challenged generations of chemists. Despite these chemical and medicinal features, these compounds, in racemic form, have succumbed to total synthesis only four times over the last 30 years. Review Introduction The mitomycins pose unique challenges to the synthetic their apparent fragility, mitomycins were rapidly identified to chemist. As S. Danishefsky noted, “The complexity of the act as prodrugs and their unique activity was thought to problem arises from the need to accommodate highly inter- originate from their ability to transform in vivo to generate the active functionality in a rather compact matrix and to orches- active metabolite. This was followed by decades of investiga- trate the chemical progression such as to expose and maintain tions to understand in detail their singular mode of action. It vulnerable structural elements as the synthesis unfolds. The was found that the aziridine played a crucial role, allowing an synthesis of a mitomycin is the chemical equivalent of walking irreversible bis-alkylation of DNA [3].