Boron Cluster Modification with Antiviral, Anticancer, and Modulation of Purinergic Receptors' Activities Based on the Nucleoside Structure

Nucleoside analogs have been in clinical use for several decades and have become cornerstones of treatment for patients with cancer or viral infections [1,2]. This is complemented with nucleoside antibiotics, a large family of microbial natural products and synthetic derivatives derived from nucleosides and nucleotides [3]. The approval of several new nucleoside drugs over the past decade demonstrates that this class of compounds still possesses strong potential [1,2]. The potential of nucleosides in chemotherapy is enhanced by development of new chemistries for nucleoside modification, better understanding of molecular mechanisms of nucleoside drugs’ actions [4], and pro‐drug technology [5,6]. One of the new developments in the medicinal chemistry of nucleosides is nucleoside derivatives comprising a boron component [7]. The boron part can contain a single boron atom [8] or several boron atoms in the form of a boron cluster (Figure 1.2.1) [9–11]