Oxidative cleavage of ribofuranose 5-(α-hydroxyphosphonates): a route to erythrofuranose-based nucleoside phosphonic acids

Abstract: We report here an oxidative cleavage of (5R)- and (5S)-ribofuranosyl-5-C-phosphonate derivatives with periodate anion under both strong acidic and neutral conditions. In both cases, only (5R)-configured compound underwent the expected oxidation reaction and afforded the desired (4R)-erythrofuranosylphosphonate, whereas the second epimer, (5S)-ribofuranosyl-5-C-phosphonate did not provide the corresponding (4S)-erythrofuranosylphosphonate derivative. This different behavior of epimers toward oxidative cleavage is an important phenomenon. The obtained (4R)-erythrofuranosylphosphonate was used for the preparation of phosphonate mimic of adenosine 5′-phosphate via classical nucleosidation reaction. Condensation of the protected shortened AMP analogue with adenosine derivatives, however, provided only the 2′,5′-linked ApA analogue. Study on hybridization of the modified 2′-5′ ApA with polyU revealed its ability to form stable triplex-like complex, similar to natural 2′-5′ r(ApA) and 3′-5′ r(ApA). NMR spectroscopy study showed that the erythrofuranose part of the phosphonate nucleotide unit of modified 2′-5′ ApA was predominantly in the C2′-endo conformation, which is characteristic for B-DNA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]