Improved chemical syntheses of 5, 6-dihydro-5-fluorouracil

AL LaFrate, JA Katzenellenbogen

Index: LaFrate, Andrew L.; Katzenellenbogen, John A. Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2007 , vol. 72, # 22 p. 8573 - 8576

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Citation Number: 13

Abstract

5, 6-Dihydro-5-fluorouracil (5-DHFU) is a metabolite of the chemotherapy drug 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) of importance for biological studies. 5-DHFU has been prepared by enzymatic reduction of 5-FU and in very low yield by hydrogenation of 5-FU; however, a practical chemical synthesis is not available. Facile racemic syntheses of 5-DHFU from 5-FU or uracil, using p-methoxybenzyl protecting groups followed by l-Selectride reduction, are reported.