Cytotoxic Agents: Ii, Bis‐epoxides and Related Compounds

In Part I Although this discovery emerged from investigations undertaken on the supposition that urethane might function as a chemically reactive grouping towards amines of cellular origin, it became apparent that the biological effects of these substances were more closely related to their use in textile technology. The " cross-linking " action, upon which their effects upon textile fibres seem to depend, might well lead to the linkage of cellular components in a manner analogous to that which has been suggested for the nitrogen mustards, and which is believed by Haddow and his co-workers to be responsible for the specific cytotoxic effects of the latter. In fact the first methylolamides which we examined were selected from a number made available to us in 1947 by our colleagues who were studying their use in the textile field. This technological interest extended to compounds of other chemical types having similar applications and similar " cross-linking " potentialities, notably certain epoxide and ethylenimine derivatives, and these by analogy were deemed worthy of biological examination. This communication concerns substances of the former type, namely, those based on the ethylene oxide ring system. Brief reference to them has been made in an earlier note (Rose, Hendry, and Walpole, 1950).