Nucleic acids and their derivatives

Recent developments in drug discovery and drug development spurred the need for novel analytical techniques and methods. In the last decade, the biopharmaceutical industry set the pace for this demand. The nature of the industry required that novel techniques should be simple, easily applicable, and of high resolution and sensitivity. It was also required that the techniques give information about the composition, structure, purity, and stability of drug candidates. Biopharmaceuticals represent a wide variety of chemically different compounds, including small organic molecules, nucleic acids and their derivatives, and peptides and proteins. 

Christensen. E., and A. C. Giese. Changes in absorption spectra of nucleic acids and their derivatives following exposure to ozone and ultraviolet radiations. Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 51 208-216. 1954. 

Consistent with the definition of hard and soft metal ions see Hard Soft Acids and Bases) based on the nature of the stable complexes that they form with different ligand donor atoms, these metal ions behave similarly toward donor atoms of nucleic acids and their derivatives (Figure 8). Hard monovalent cations (M+) usually interact with nucleic acid polyanions only in a diffuse ion atmosphere manner, whereas hard and borderline polyvalent (M- +) cations can form both outer- and inner-sphere complexes. Soft metal ions tend to form inner-sphere complexes, however. Hard metal ions (class A) prefer O-donor ligands (usually phosphate oxygens), while soft ones (class B) prefer N-donor atoms of the nucleic acid bases as well as S atoms... 

In recent years there has been much interest in the chemistry and biochemistry of irradiated nucleic acids and their derivatives (B-76MI40901). ESR spectroscopy is concerned with the structure of radical forms produced by high energy radiation and has been of value in understanding the complex reactions which occur in the nucleic acids and their simpler derivatives. A discussion of these last reactions is beyond the scope of this chapter and the reader is referred to the bibliography in Table 2. 

In spite of the incomplete coverage in classical reviews and the absence of references in chemical and biochemical texts on mass spectral studies applied to nucleic acids and their derivatives, mass spectrometry is a very promising technique for studying these compounds. The analysis of the relevant building blocks (nucleosides and nucleotides) is satisfactorily achieved, whereas the analysis of the polymers (oligonucleotides and nucleic acids) still needs refinement despite the sophistication level of the techniques used. The future looks very promising for the sequence analysis of nucleic acids and this, along with structural elucidation studies of modified bases, for example, could establish mass spectrometry as a routine technique in this area. 

Although the current popularity of the nucleic acids and their derivatives tends to focus attention first in that direction, other promising avenues of biosynthesis involving the glycosyl ureides have been suggested. Neuberg... 

Nucleic Acids and Their Derivatives, Microbiological Assay of (Miller)- 6 31... 

Consistent with the definition of hard and soft metal ions see Hard Soft Acids and Bases) based on the nature of the stable complexes that they form with different ligand donor atoms,these metal ions behave similarly toward donor atoms of nucleic acids and their derivatives (Figure 8). ... 

Steinberg et al. (1996) provided a definitive chapter on the TLC of nucleic acids and their derivatives including an extensive review of the pertinent literature. They stressed the need for a uniform approach to the TLC analysis of nucleic acids because such an approach would be helpful in making data comparisons. Their review included new technical information that they used successfully in their laboratory relative to the TLC of nucleic acids. Their procedures are especially useful in situations where expensive equipment is not available. They also stressed greater use of data quantification by methods described in the review. This chapter should be read by any chromatographer who intends to use TLC as a primary method of analysis for nucleic acids and their derivatives. 

Van Gennip in Sherma and Fried (8) also reviewed the use of colorimetric agents for the detection of nucleic acid and their derivatives. Common reagents include mercuric acetate (purine and... 

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