Conversion of covalently mercurated nucleic acids to tritiated and halogenated derivatives

Open Access
Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Mercurated nucleic acids are converted to the corresponding tritiated, brominated, and iodinated derivatives by treatment with sodium borotritlide, N-bromosuccinimide, and elemental iodine, respectively. All three reactions occur under mild conditions in neutral aqueous solutions. Mercury-halogen conversions are essentially quantitative at both the monoand polynucleotide levels. Tritlation reactions also proceed efficiently with mononucleotides, although polymers undergo incomplete demercuration. In spite of the latter limitation, these reactions provide novel and efficient synthetic routes to radio labeled nucleic acid derivatives.