Use of phthaloyl protecting group for the automated synthesis of 3'-[(hydroxypropyl)amino] and 3'-[(hydroxypropyl)triglycyl] oligonucleotide conjugates.

The chemical stability of oligonucleotides (ODNs) containing 3'-propanolamine was investigated. Invariably, all the ODNs synthesized from Fmoc-protected 3-aminopropane-1,2-diol-CPG support gave a mixture of three compounds at the end of automated synthesis as analyzed by denaturing PAGE and HPLC. On the basis of analytical procedures, these compounds were identified to be 3'-[N-acetyl-N-(hydroxypropyl)amino],3'-[(hydroxypropyl)amino], and 3'-hydroxyl ODNs. The instability of the amino protecting group under the synthesis conditions was responsible for this observed heterogeneity. In order to evaluate the stability, a comparative study on the chemical stability of the ODN containing amino-protecting groups such as [(9-fluorenylmethyl)oxy]carbonyl (Fmoc), trifluoroacetyl (TFA), and phthaloyl was undertaken. The results indicate that the phthaloyl group provided the best stability for the synthesis of 3' amine-modified ODNs, and the protecting group is cleaved and deprotected in concentrated ammonium hydroxide:40% aqueous methylamine, 1:1, for 5-10 min, at 56 degrees C. The 3'-hydroxypropyl)triglycyl] ODN conjugates were also synthesized from Fmoc- and phthaloyl-protected (hydroxypropyl)triglycine-CPG supports.