Formation of N-2-fluorenylhydroxylamine adducts of DNA in vivo and in vitro and some of their properties.

The major 2-fluorenylamine-DNA derivative formed in vivo in rat liver after application of N-2-flourencylacetamide is N-(deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-2-fluorenylamine. This nucleoside, hydrolyzed under mild alkaline conditions with the opening of the imidazole ring, formed two pyrimidine derivatives which can be separated by Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and thin-layer chromatography on silica. The hydrolysis reaction was catalyzed by metal ions and alkaline phosphatase from Escherichia coli.