(R)-2,4-Dihydroxybutyramide seco-pseudonucleosides: new versatile homochiral synthons for synthesis of modified oligonucleotides

[reaction: see text] Two series of seco-pseudonucleoside synthons were synthesized from (R)-(+)-alpha-hydroxy-gamma-butyrolactone and (R)-(-)-pantolactone by aminolysis, side-chain protection, dimethoxytritylation, and phosphitylation or solid-phase attachment. The phosphoramidites and solid supports were used in automated DNA synthesis to prepare oligonucleotides modified with one or more 2,4-dihydroxybutyramide units bearing side-chain reporter groups. These new oligonucleotide modification reagents allow the introduction of a label into any desired position within an oligonucleotide chain during solid-phase assembly.     

Electronic structure and absorption spectra of verdazyl radicals,the corresponding cations,and leuco compounds

The wavelengths of transitions in electronic absorption spectra of verdazyl radicals, the corresponding cations, and leuco compounds were calculated in valence and -electron approximations with allowance for configuration interaction. It was shown that the longest-wave bands in the investigated compounds are due to ^* electron transitions. The effect of the nature of the substituents on the position of the bands in the spectrum is discussed.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Éksperimental'naya Khimiya, Vol. 22, No. 4, pp. 473–477, July–August, 1986.     

Synthesis and properties of oligodeoxyribonucleotides containing 2’-<Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis>-(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)- and 2’-<Emphasis Type="Italic">O</Emphasis>-(2-oxoethyl)arabinouridine residues

2’-O-(2,3-Dihydroxypropyl)arabinouridine-containing oligodeoxyribonucleotides were synthesized starting from a new modified nucleoside, viz., 2’-O-(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)arabinouridine, and the corresponding 3’-phosphoramidite. Oxidation of these oligodeoxyribonucleotides with sodium periodate afforded oligonucleotides containing 2’-O-(2-oxoethyl)arabinouridine residues. Subsequent modification of the aldehyde-containing oligonucleotides involved the reactions with 9-hydrazinoacridine and N-aminooxyacetyl peptide and reductive amination by 4-(1-pyrenyl)butyrohydrazide and biotin hydrazide. Thermal stabilities of duplexes of modified oligodeoxyribonucleotides with complementary oligodeoxyribonucleotides are slightly lower than those of natural duplexes. Duplexes with complementary oligoribonucleotides are substantially destabilized.__________Published in Russian in Izvestiya Akademii Nauk. Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 1, pp. 233–241, January, 2005.     

A New and Efficient Method for Synthesis of 5′‐Conjugates of Oligonucleotides through Amide‐Bond Formation on Solid Phase

An efficient method for synthesis of oligonucleotide 5′‐conjugates through amide‐bond formation on solid phase is described. Protected oligonucleotides containing a 5′‐carboxylic acid function were obtained by use of a novel non‐nucleosidic phosphoramidite building block, where the carboxylic acid moiety was protected by a 2‐chlorotrityl group. The protecting group is stable to the phosphoramidite coupling conditions used in solid‐phase oligonucleotide assembly, but is easily deprotected by mild acidic treatment. The protecting group may be removed also by ammonolysis. 5′‐Carboxylate‐modified oligonucleotides were efficiently conjugated on solid support under normal peptide‐coupling conditions to various amines or to the N‐termini of small peptides to yield products of high purity. The method is well‐suited in principle for the synthesis of peptide‐oligonucleotide conjugates containing an amide linkage between the 5′‐end of an oligonucleotide and the N‐terminus of a peptide.     

Surface plasmons in porous gold films

The surface plasmon resonance effects in porous gold (por-Au) films—nanocomposite porous films containing an ensemble of disordered gold nanoparticles—have been investigated by modulation-polarization spectroscopy. Por-Au films have been obtained by pulsed laser deposition (using a direct particle flow from an erosion torch formed by a YAG:Nd³⁺ laser in argon). The spectral and angular dependences of the polarization difference ρ(λ, θ) of internal-reflection coefficients of s- and p-polarized radiation in the Kretschmann geometry and the spectral dependences of isotropic reflection angles at ρ(θ) = 0 are measured. Two types of surface plasmon resonance are found: one occurs on isolated nanoparticles (dipole and multipole modes), and the other is due to the dipole–dipole interaction of neighboring nanoparticles. The frequency of electron plasma oscillations for the nanoparticle ensemble and the frequencies and decay parameters of resonances are determined. Dispersion relations for the radiative and nonradiative modes are presented. The negative sign of the dispersion branch of nonradiative modes of dipole–dipole interaction is explained by the spatial dispersion of permittivity. The relationships between the formation conditions of the films, their structure, and established resonance parameters (determining the resonant-optical properties of films) are discussed.     

Giant magnetoresistance of vanadium films with a surface magnetic superlattice

Giant (up to 68%) room-temperature magnetoresistance is observed in (110) V films on mica with a periodic system of 5–25 nm wide, thin (⩽10 nm) Co strips, separated by 1–2 nm gaps, grown on the films. The effect is observed only for samples in which the magnetization tilts out of the plane of the film. Pis’ma Zh. éksp. Teor. Fiz. 64, No. 5, 346–349 (10 September 1996)