Synthetic analogues of polynucleotides—XIII: The resolution of dl-β-(thymin-1-yl)alanine and polymerisation of the β-(thymin-1-yl)alanines

dl-β-(Thymin-1-yl)alanine has been resolved into d(+) and l(?) forms. The pure d(+) form was obtained by fractional crystallisation of the (+)α-methylphenylethylamine salts of the α-N-formyl derivatives. The pure l(?) isomer was obtained on a small scale by chromatography of the same salts. The optically active amino acids and the dl-mixture were polymerised by the mixed anhydride procedure to give polymers which showed no evidence of base stacking or of interaction with polyadenylic acid. The molecular weights of the polymers were in the range 2–4 × 10³. These were determined by end group assay which involved the synthesis of α-N-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)-dl-β-(thymin-1-yl)alanine as a standard.