Advances in the Synthesis of Purine Derivatives from Uric Acid

The review deals mainly with the discussion of the synthesis of purine derivatives based on the interaction between uric acid and acetic anhydride. Problems of the structure, intermediates in the reaction, N-methylated derivatives of the compounds, and their conversion into 8-methylxanthines are discussed. Much attention has been devoted to the synthesis of 9-methylpurine derivatives from uric acid using 1,3,8,9-tetramethylxanthine as an intermediate. Various methods of synthesising N-methylated purines substituted in the 8-position have been described.
The bibliography includes 157 references.