Syntheses and base-pairing properties of locked nucleic acid nucleotides containing hypoxanthine, 2,6-diaminopurine, and 2-aminopurine nucleobases.

Second generation 2'-O,4'-C-methylene-linked nucleotides 1-3 containing hypoxanthine, 2,6-diaminopurine, and 2-aminopurine nucleobases were synthesized and incorporated into locked nucleic acid (LNA) oligonucleotides by means of the automated phosphoramidite method. The required phosphoramidite monomeric units were efficiently prepared via convergent synthesis. The glycosyl donor 4 was stereoselectively coupled with hypoxanthine and 6-chloro-2-aminopurine to give the 4'-C-branched nucleosides 5 and 17.