Inhibitors of farnesyl protein transferase

A compound of the formula:

• ##STR8## wherein:
• ##STR9## ##STR10## R.sup.1 is an alkyl group, hydrogen, an acyl group, an alkylsulfonyl group or arylsulfonyl group, wherein alkyl and acyl groups comprise straight chain or branched chain hydrocarbons of 1 to 6 carbon atoms which alternatively may be substituted with an aryl group;
• R.sup.2 is the side chains of naturally occurring amino acids, or in the alternative may be substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, or aromatic groups, selected from the group consisting of allyl, cyclohexyl, phenyl, or saturated chains of 2 to 8 carbon atoms which may be branched or unbranched, wherein the aliphatic substitutents may be substituted with an aromatic ring;
• R.sup.3 is an aromatic ring or in the alternative, an alkyl group or an aryl substituted alkane, wherein the aromatic ring is unsubstituted or in the alternative, substituted with one or more groups selected from the group consisting of alkyl, halo, alkoxy, trifluoromethyl or sulfamoyl groups, and which may be polycyclic;
• or the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.