Synthesis of fused bicyclic piperidines: potential bioactive templates for medicinal chemistry.

An array of six pyridyl-substituted fused bicyclic piperidines was prepared as novel cores for medicinal chemistry. For maximum diversity, the size of the fused ring varied from three to six atoms and contained up to two oxygen atoms. The pyridine ring was incorporated to improve physicochemical properties and to challenge the robustness of the chemistry.

Donor/acceptor interactions in systematically modified Ru(II)-Os(II) oligonucleotides.

Donor/acceptor (D/A) interactions are studied in a series of doubly modified 19-mer DNA duplexes. An ethynyl-linked Ru(II) donor nucleoside is maintained at the 5' terminus of each duplex, while an ethynyl-linked Os(II) nucleoside, placed on the complementary strands, is systematically moved toward the other terminus in three base pair increments. The steady-state Ru(II)-based luminescence quenching decreases from 90% at the shortest separation of 16 A (3 base pairs) to approximately 11% at the largest separation of 61 A (18 base pairs).

Fluorescent 1,10-phenanthroline-containing oligonucleotides distinguish between perfect and mismatched base pairing.

[structure: see text] A fluorescent deoxyuridine analogue is sensitive to the polarity of its environment and exhibits a distinct emission profile in single- vs double-stranded oligonucleotides. Emission-monitored denaturation curves of internally modified dU(phen) duplexes are characteristic of the base opposite dU(phen) and distinguish between perfect and mismatched complementary oligonucleotides.

Ru(II) and Os(II) nucleosides and oligonucleotides: synthesis and properties.

A general and versatile method for the site-specific incorporation of polypyridine Ru(II) and Os(II) complexes into DNA oligonucleotides using solid-phase phosphoramidite chemistry is reported. Novel nucleosides containing a [(bpy)(2)M(3-ethynyl-1,10-phenanthroline)](2+) (M = Ru, Os) metal center covalently attached to the 5-position in 2'-deoxyuridine are synthesized, and their electrochemical as well as photophysical properties are studied. The Ru(II) nucleoside exhibits a rather long-lived excited state in phosphate buffer pH 7.