In-water reactivity of nucleosides and nucleotides: one-step preparation and biological evaluation of novel ferrocenyl-derivatives

The reactivity in water of a series of nucleosides and nucleotides towards ferrocenemethanol was investigated. Several adducts incorporating the ferrocenemethyl moiety into the heterocyclic base were isolated and their activity was tested against HIV-1, HBV, YFV, BVDV and several bacteria. However, none of the new compounds showed significant antiviral activity nor cytotoxicity. The reaction with ferrocenemethanol of the model dinucleotide 5′dCpdG3′, for a direct comparison of the behaviour of purine versus pyrimidine bases, is also discussed.