Antisense DNA oligonucleotides. II: The use of matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry for the sequence verification of methylphosphonate oligodeoxyribonucleotides.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry has been used to measure accurately the molecular masses of synthetic methylphosphonate oligodeoxyribonucleotides, up to 18 nucleotides in length. A simple method has been developed for the complete sequence verification of these compounds, which are intractable by classical means. Sequencing from the 5' end of the molecule is possible because of inefficiencies in the synthetic procedure. Complementary information from the 3' end can be obtained by partial hydrolysis of the methylphosphonate backbone.