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Photochemically controlled drug release systems require quite special linker systems for the photocleavable attachmentof a drug to a polymer backbone. Such linkers must be photochemically cleavable exactly at that point where a detachmentof the drug molecule is possible without any added chemical groups in order not to influence its therapeuticproperties. The need for such special linker systems is a bottleneck. The photochemical cleavage of chemical bondsrequires energies in the UV and may be accomplished either by single-photon or two-photon absorption. We found thatdimers of drugs like 5-fuorouracil (5-FU) show significant changes in their physico-chemical properties like solubility inpolymer matrices compared to their monomers. Due to this differences they may be used as drug depot forms without theneed of any linker system at all. Upon photochemical cleavage of the dimer, either by single-photon or two-photonabsorption, the active monomer form of the drug is released without any residual groups attached. Synthesis, chemicaland photochemical characterization of dimeric 5-FU is reported and potential applications in polymer systems formedical applications are outlined.

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