PYRIMIDINE: POTENT HETEROCYCLE FOR TREATMENT OF CANCER

Abstract

Pyrimidine is the parent heterocycle of a very important group of compounds that have been extensively studied due to their occurrence in living system. Pyrimidine ring is the building block of DNA and RNA and thus pyrimidine based chemical architectures exhibit diverse pharmacological activities. Among the reported medicinal attributes of pyrimidines, anticancer activity is most extensively reported. Various synthetic aspects indicated that pyrimidine derivatives are easy to synthesize and has diverse biological and chemical applications. The utility of pyrimidines as synthon for various biologically active compounds have been given good impact to these studies. The pyrimidine derivatives show various biological activities including antitubercular, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticonvulsant, antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiplasmodial, antifungal, anticancer and analgesic activity. The present review article aims to review the work reported on synthesis andanticancer potentials of pyrimidine derivatives during new millennium.