A novel polymer supported approach to nucleoside modification

Polymer-supported O(6)-(benzotriazol-1-yl)inosine derivatives (Pol-I and Pol-dI) have been synthesized reasonably effectively via reaction of nucleoside phosphonium salts with polymer-linked HOBt (Pol-HOBt). In constast to solution chemistry, use of polymer-supported BOP (Pol-BOP) did not lead to efficient nucleoside loading. Presence of the nucleosides on the support could be readily detected by MAS NMR. Exposure of the polymer-supported nucleosides, Pol-I and Pol-dI, to alcohol, phenol, thiol and amine nucleophiles caused cleavage from the support leading directly to the C-6 modified nucleoside analogues. To our knowledge, these are the first examples of the application of such technology for nucleoside modification. Where possible, results of reactions with the polymer-supported nucleosides are compared to those from solution chemistry, providing insight into the differences between the two techniques. These new polymer-supported nucleosides can be conveniently utilized for diversity-oriented synthesis.