Sites of reaction of glutaraldehyde and acetaldehyde with nucleosides.

Glutaraldehyde, a dialdehyde, was reacted with ribonucleosides and deoxyribonucleosides and the products were purified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Multiple reaction products were identified with cytosine- and purine-containing nucleosides. The products were labile, but spectroscopic evidence indicated that exocyclic amino groups were involved. Similar reactions were seen with acetaldehyde and butyraldehyde, monofunctional aldehydes. After reduction, one of the acetaldehyde-guanosine adducts was assigned the structure N2-ethylguanosine.