Synthesis and properties of O6-methyldeoxyguanylic acid and its copolymers with deoxycytidylic acid.

This paper describes the synthesis of O6-methyldeoxyguanosine triphosphate (m6dGTP) and its copolymerization to high molecular weight polymer with deoxycytidylic acid. The monomer, m6dGTP, was synthesized from deoxyguanosine first protected by acetylation of the sugar hydroxyls, and then chlorinated in the 6-position with POCl3. The product, 6-chloro-3',5'-di-O-acetyl deoxyguanosine, was converted to O6-methyldeoxyguanosine with sodium methoxide and phosphorylated in the 5' position with carrot phosphotransferase. Monophosphate was converted chemically to the triphosphate and copolymerized with dCTP by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase. The resulting template, which contained O6-methylguanine, was tested for its ability to direct RNA synthesis by bacterial RNA polymerase. The presence of O6-methylguanine was shown to lead to the misincorporation of UMP in the product polymer, thus strengthening the hypothesis that O6-methylguanine is a promutagenic base.