Novel oxidation products from guanine nucleosides reacted with dimethyldioxirane

Treatment of guanosine or 2′-deoxyguanosine with dimethyldioxirane, followed by heating in aqueous solution, generates respectively 4-amidinocarbamoyl-5-hydroxyimidazole (1) or its 2-(2,3,4-trihydroxybutyl) derivative (2).