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Rhodium(II) acetate, propionate, and butyrate showed a considerable variation in their antitumor activity against Ehrlich ascites tumor cells in mice, with the butyrate complex being the most active. The three complexes markedly inhibited DNA synthesis of Ehrlich ascites tumor cells in vivo. Rhodium (II) butyrate was the most potent inhibitor followed by the propionate complex. One hour after administration, rhodium(II) propionate and butyrate induce more uridine-5-3H incorporation into RNA than is seen in the controls. Equilibrium dialysis studied showed that rhodium(II) acetate-1-14C binds to single stranded DNA, poly-A, ribonuclease A, and bovine serum albumin but not to highly polymerized native calf thymus DNA, poly-G, or poly-C. In these cases binding occurred at the two axial positions of rhodium(II) acetate to a nitrogen donor in the ligands. The formation constants of the rhodium(II) acetate and propionate complexes with 5'-adenosine monophosphate were determined. The rhodium(II) propionate complex was more stable. Sedimentation and viscosity measurements of poly-A and poly-A/rhodium(II) acetate complexes indicate a high degree of intramolecular crosslinking in the rhodium(II) acetate/poly-A complex. The rhodium(II) carboxylate complexes were also found to be potent inhibitors of purified DNA polymerase I and RNA polymerase from Escherichia coli.