Effect of alkyl groups on the cellular hydrolysis of stavudine phosphoramidates

We examined the effect of cellular metabolism of three alkyl substituted amino acid ester phosphoramidate derivatives of stavudine in different cell lines. Marked cell-to-cell differences were found in both the rate of hydrolysis and chiral selectivity. This selectivity implies that different enzymes may be involved in the metabolism of these compounds depending on the cell type involved.