Triptycene analogs

This invention provides analogs of triptycene which are useful as anticancer drugs, as well as for other uses. The potency of these compounds is in a similar magnitude as daunomycin, a currently used anticancer drug. Each compound of the invention produces one or more desired effects (blocking nucleoside transport, inhibiting nucleic acid or protein syntheses, decreasing the proliferation and viability of cancer cells, inducing DNA fragmentation or retaining their effectiveness against multidrug-resistant tumor cells).