Synthesis and Characterization of Polygamies and Their Metal Complexes

The polyamine pathway represents a logical target for chemotherapeutic intervention, since depletion of polyamines results in the disruption of a variety of cellular functions, and may in specific cases result in cytotoxicity. Polyamine interaction with DNA has also long been thought to be an important function of the natural polyamines and as more is learned about the specific interactions and the resultant conformational changes which can be influenced by the polyamine binding to DNA the potential for regional and gene-specific changes are becoming more evident. We have prepraed the elaborate polyamines by the reaction of simpler polyamines with polyalkyating agents. Synthesized polyamines were separated and purified by metal complex formation and ion-exchange chromatography. They were characterized by X-ray crystal structure determinations of their metal complexes.