8-Amino-3-deazaguanine (15), an analogue of both 3-deazaguanine (1) and 8-aminoguanine (6), an antitumor agent and a purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) inhibitor, respectively, was synthesized from the ammonolysis of an imidazole precursor, methyl 2-(benzoylamino)-5-(cyanomethyl)-1H-imidazole-4-carboxylate (13). The requisite imidazole, methyl 2-(benzoylamino)-4-(methoxycarbonyl)-1H-imidazole-5-acetate (11), was prepared from the monoheterocyclic rearrangement of dimethyl 3-[(5-phenyl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-3-yl)amino]-2-pentenedioate (10) by NaH/DMF. Ammonolysis and subsequent dehydration of 11 provided the penultimate imidazole intermediate 13. Its deprotected (NaOMe/100 degrees C) product, methyl 2-amino-5-(cyanomethyl)-1H-imidazole-4-carboxylate (14), was also converted to 15. 8-Amino-3-deazaguanine, as its methanesulfonic acid (mesylate 7), exhibited an inhibition constant (IC50) of 9.9 microM against isolated mammalian PNP. It was a very weak inhibitor of T and B cell growth and did not enhance 2'-deoxyguanosine toxicity in the same cells. 8-Amino-3-deazaguanine mesylate was not significantly active in L1210 cells in vitro or L1210 leukemic mice. Thus, the amino group introduced in the 8-position of 3-deazaguanine enhances its PNP activity but diminishes its antitumor activity.