A new method of selective photoreduction of uracil and thymine

D. Yu. Yakovlev, A. R. Khomutov, B. M. Khomutov

V. A. Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow;A. N. Bakh Institute of Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow

Abstract: UV-Irradiation (λ 254 nm) of thymine, uracil and their derivatives in aqueous solutions of phosphinic acid salts leads to formation, with high quantum yields, of the corresponding dihydropyrimidino structures. Mild reaction conditions, high reaction rates and selectivity towards 2,4-dioxopyrimidines makes this new transformation promising for the base-specific modification of nucleic acids.

Russian Journal of Bioorganic Chemistry 1991, 17 (6):857-859

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