Conversion of covalently mercurated nucleic acids to tritiated and halogenated derivatives.
Mercurated nucleic acids are converted to the corresponding tritiated, brominated, and iodinated derivatives by treatment with sodium borotritiide, N-bromosuccinimide, and elemental iodine, respectively. All three reactions occur under mild conditions in neutral aqueous solutions. Mercury-halogen conversions are essentially quantitative at both the mono- and polynucleotide  levels. Tritiation reactions also proceed efficiently with mononucleotides, although polymers undergo incomplete demercuration. In spite of the latter limitation , these reactions provide novel and efficient synthetic routes to radiolabeled nucleic acid derivatives.
D001894:Borohydrides; D001966:Bromine; D001974:Bromosuccinimide; D003597:Cytosine Nucleotides; D007455:Iodine; D007553:Isotope Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D008628:Mercury; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000032:analysis*; D011119:Polynucleotides / Q000032:analysis*; D013056:Spectrophotometry, Ultraviolet; D014500:Uracil Nucleotides
D001894:Borohydrides; D003597:Cytosine Nucleotides; D009711:Nucleotides; D011119:Polynucleotides; D014500:Uracil Nucleotides; D007455:Iodine; D008628:Mercury; D001974:Bromosuccinimide; D001966:Bromine