The enantiomerically pure synthesis of9-[(1'R,2'R,3'S)-bis(hydroxymethyl)thietan-1'-yl]adenine 2, 3'-thio analog of oxetanocin A, was achieved via coupling with sulfoxide 17 and 6-chloropurine in the presence of TMSOTf and Et3N under the Pummerer reaction conditions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. AII rights reserved.