Farmitalia Carlo Erba

Giueseppe Cassinelli

Federico Maria Arcamone

Sergio Penco

Alberto Bargiotti

Aurelio Di Marco

Anthracycline glycosides of the formula I ##STR1## wherein R is hydrogen or hydroxy, one of R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 is methyl and the other of R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 is hydroxy, and pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts thereof, which are useful in treating certain mammalian tumors, are prepared by condensing daunomycinone with certain novel sugars in an inert organic solvent and in the presence of a soluble silver salt and a dehydrating agent to form the corresponding protected glycosides from which the protecting groups are removed. This gives the compounds wherein R is hydrogen. The former are converted to the corresponding hydroxyl compounds by treatment with bromine and sodium formate.

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Voghera, Italy

Giueseppe Cassinelli