7-Deazaguanosine: Synthesis of an oligorbonucleotide building block and disaggregation of the U-G-G-G-G-U G4 structure by the modified base

Building blocks derived from 7-deazaguanosine (c⁷G, 1 ) were prepared for solid-phase oligoribonucleotide synthesis. Compound 1 was converted into the isobutyurl derivative 2b and the (dimethylamino)methylidene compound 3 (Scheme 1). After tritylation (→ 4a , b ), silylation was studied with regard to regioselectivity. It was found that the triisopropylsilyl group in combination with the (dimethylamino)methylidene residue gave the highest 2′ -selectivity (→ 5e ). The 2′ -O -silyl derivative 5e was reacted with PCl₃ affording the 3′ -phosphonate 7 which was used in solid-phase oligoribonucleotide synthesis. Oligonucleotides derived from U-G-G-G-G-U with an increasing number of c⁷G residues instead of G were synthesized. Aggregation was studied by polyacrylamidegel electrophoresis and CD Spectroscopy. Disaggregation of the G₄-structure of U-G-G-G-G-U was observed when c⁷G replaced G, demonstrating that guanine N(7) participates in the aggregation process.