Esters Of Glucuronide Prodrugs Of Anthracyclines And Method Of Preparation And Use In Tumor-Selective Chemotherapy

The invention relates to novel esters and in particular to some novel esters of glucuronide prodrugs of anthracyclines having tunable water-solubility, their synthesis and use in tumor-selective chemotherapy. It appeared that in the final step in the synthesis of these prodrugs, i.e. the coupling of the glucuronide spacer moiety to the parent drug molecule, protection of the sugar hydroxyls is, surprisingly, no longer required. A process for the preparation of these unprotected sugar spacer moieties is also disclosed.