GENERAL-APPROACH TO THE SYNTHESIS OF SPECIFICALLY DEUTERIUM-LABELED NUCLEOSIDES

Starting from D-(-)-ribose, a set of synthetic routes sharing common intermediates has been developed and exemplified in [5'-H-2(2)]-, [4'-H-2]-, [1'-H-2]-, (5'R)-[5'-H-2]-, and (5'S)-[5'-H-2]-N-4-benzoylcytidine and, by deoxygenation, their corresponding 2'-deoxynucleosides. These syntheses provide convenient access to millimolar quantities of deuterium/tritium-labeled natural or unnatural nucleosides for direct use or automated oligonucleotide synthesis.