Organic chemistry nucleic acids

Mechanisms in Organic Reactions Molecular Interactions Bioinorganic Chemistry Nucleic Acids... 

The unique combination of organic chemistry and molecular biology which is nowadays applied in nucleic acid synthesis and analysis led to a great interest in nucleic acid bioorganic chemistry. We give a few examples of recent synthetic endeavours in this field. 

In computational chemistry it can be very useful to have a generic model that you can apply to any situation. Even if less accurate, such a computational tool is very useful for comparing results between molecules and certainly lowers the level of pain in using a model from one that almost always fails. The MM+ force field is meant to apply to general organic chemistry more than the other force fields of HyperChem, which really focus on proteins and nucleic acids. HyperChem includes a default scheme such that when MM+ fails to find a force constant (more generally, force field parameter), HyperChem substitutes a default value. This occurs universally with the periodic table so all conceivable molecules will allow computations. Whether or not the results of such a calculation are realistic can only be determined by close examination of the default parameters and the particular molecular situation. ... 

Epoxides are often encountered in nature, both as intermediates in key biosynthetic pathways and as secondary metabolites. The selective epoxidation of squa-lene, resulting in 2,3-squalene oxide, for example, is the prelude to the remarkable olefin oligomerization cascade that creates the steroid nucleus [7]. Tetrahydrodiols, the ultimate products of metabolism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, bind to the nucleic acids of mammalian cells and are implicated in carcinogenesis [8], In organic synthesis, epoxides are invaluable building blocks for introduction of diverse functionality into the hydrocarbon backbone in a 1,2-fashion. It is therefore not surprising that chemistry of epoxides has received much attention [9]. 

Instead, this review seeks to cover less well-known and newly emerging aspects of metal-nucleobase chemistry. In addition to biomedical relevancies, nucleic acid chemistry offers a paradigm for organizing molecules via base pairing. Combining the hydrogen bonding... 

Cimino, C.P., Camper, H.B., Isaacs, S.T., and Hearst, J.E. (1985) Psoralens as photoactive probes of nucleic acid structure and function Organic chemistry, photochemistry, and biochemistry. Annu. Rev. Biochem. 54, 1151-1193. 

Since the chemistry of nucleic acids was last discussed in this Series,1 publications on the subject have appeared at an unprecedented rate. Degradation products have been further investigated and their structures are more firmly established. Moreover, studies of the properties of these materials have led to a fuller understanding of the behavior of polynucleotides. Emphasis will be laid on the organic chemistry of nucleic acids, and many physicochemical investigations will not be discussed. The period under review has seen the beginning of an understanding of the biosynthesis of nucleic acids, but space does not allow of a consideration of this aspect of the subject. 

The chemistry of nucleic acid analogs has received much attention in recent years, and a series of nucleic acid models has been designed and widely prepared, in order to estimate and utilize their functionalities in relation to the specific basepairing properties ( J., i, ). These monomers and polymers, particularly those containing purines, pyrimidines, nucleosides, and nucleotides, are not only of interest to the field of heterocyclic organic chemistry, but also to that of biomimetic macro-molecular chemistry as synthetic analogs of the nucleic acids. 

By the second half of the nineteenth century German chemists had established a dominant position in analytical and synthetic organic chemistry. Various simple sugars and aminoacids were being isolated and characterized, as well as more complex plant products. Studies on the composition of blood and the properties of hemoglobin were also well under way. The composition of lipid-rich components and the order of the different units within complex macromolecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids, could not however be resolved by techniques then available. 

Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins, which (along with polysaccharides and nucleic acids) are important biological polymers. Much of the behavior of proteins is better described in a biochemistry text. However, many of the properties of amino acids are as much a part of organic chemistry as they are a part of biochemistry. 

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