Nucleoside 2 ,3 -phosphates amides

The dimethoxytrityl ester protecting group is now removed by treatment with mild acid (CCI3CO2H), which is insufficiently reactive to hydrolyse the amide protection of bases, or the cyanoethyl protection of the phosphate. The coupling cycle can now be repeated using a phosphoramidite derivative of the next appropriate nucleoside. The sequences will be continued as necessary until the desired oligonucleotide is obtained. 

The choice of these derivatives, namely, those formed from amines of moderate strength, appears to be the best compromise for the synthesis to be effective. Although the susceptibility of phosphor-amidates to attack by nucleophiles increases with enhancement of the basic strength of the parent amine,279 280 the reverse trend is observed for the yields of nucleoside 5 -phosphoramidates when they are prepared from nucleoside 5 -phosphates by condensation with the appropriate amines through the action of N,N -dicyclohexylcarbodi-imide.279... 

The Biosynthesis of the Pyrimidine Ring begins with aspartic acid and carbamyl phosphate. The latter is an energy-rich compound which reacts with the former to give carbamylaspartic acid. Ring closure consumes ATP and is in principle an acid amide formation (peptide synthesis). The intermediate dihydro-orotic acid is dehydrogenated to orotic acid, probably by action of a flavoprotein. Orotic acid is the key precursor of pyrimidine nucleotides. It reacts with phosphoribosyl pyrophosphate. The removal of pyrophosphate yields the nucleotide of orotic acid, whose enzymic decarboxylation produces uridine 5 -phosphate. Phosphorylation with ATP yields uridine pyrophosphate and, finally, uridine triphosphate. Beside the above pathway, there is the further possibility of converting free uracil and ribose 1-phosphate to the nucleoside and from there with ATP to the nucleotide. 

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