5'-methylaristeromycin and related derivatives.

The biological versatility of aristeromycin (carbocyclic adenosine) is limited by accompanying cytotoxicity caused ostensibly by the intracellular formation of its 5'-nucleotide derivatives. Aristeromycin derivatives that offered steric interference to this transformation at the C-5' center were sought. This paper describes the facile stereospecific synthesis, where necessary, of such C-5'-methylated aristeromycin derivatives.