Birnbaum G I, Lin T S, Prusoff W H
Division of Biological Sciences, National Research Council of Canada, Ottawa, Canada.
Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1988 Feb 29;151(1):608-14. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(88)90637-7.
The structure and conformation of 2',3'-dideoxycytidine, a potent inhibitor of the human immunodeficiency virus, was determined by X-ray crystallography. The nucleoside crystallizes in the tetragonal space group P4(1)2(1)2 with cell dimensions a = b = 8.698(4) and c = 26.155(9) A. Atomic parameters were refined by full-matrix least squares to a final value of R = 0.037 for 1926 observed reflections. The conformation of the furanose ring corresponds to the unusual C3'exo/C4'endo (3T4) pucker, similar to that found in one of the molecules of 3'-azidothymidine (AZT). The glycosidic torsion angle is also smaller than expected. The relevance of these unusual structural features to anti-AIDS activity is assessed.
