Azide-alkyne "click" reaction performed on oligonucleotides with the universal nucleoside 7-octadiynyl-7-deaza-2'-deoxyinosine.

Oligonucleotides containing 7-substituted 7-deaza-2'- deoxyinosine derivatives bearing alkynyl groups were prepared. The octa-1,7-diynyl derivative was functionalized with the non-fluorescent 3- azidocoumarin by the Huisgen-Sharpless-Meldal cycloaddition to afford a highly fluorescent oligonucleotide conjugate. The ambiguous base pairing character and the clickable side chain allows the incorporation of almost any reporter molecule to DNA.