A novel approach to the synthesis of the purine anti-viral agent gancyclovir

Abstract

The aim of this research is to synthesize gancyclovir, a purine anti-viral drug in large scale via simple intermediates. Reaction of guanine <b>1</b> with acetic anhydride followed by the attachment of the 2-<i>O</i>-acetoxymethyl-1,3-di-<i>O</i>-benzyl glycerol <b>3</b> as a side chain, subsequently lead to the production of <i>N</i>²acetyl-9-(1,3-dibenzyloxy-2-propoxymethyl) guanine <b>6</b> and <i>N</i>²<i>,</i>acetyl-9-(1,3-dihydroxy-2-propoxy methyl)guanine <b>7</b> and finally synthesizing gancyclovir <b>8</b>. Among many pathways to the synthesis of purine derivatives, our four step procedure results in good yield and is proved to be an economic way of large scale synthesis.