Conformational analysis of the dinucleotides d(TpA, TpT, TpG and TpC) in different solvents

The 2′-deoxyribose conformations in four natural dinucleotides, TpX (where X is T, dC, dA or dG), dissolved in D2O, CD3OD and DMSO-d6 were investigated by 1H NMR spectroscopy. Accurate chemical shifts and coupling constants derived by simulation of 1H spectra are reported. Sugar pucker parameters derived from vicinal coupling constants are also presented. It is noted that there is no simple relation between sugar conformations and solvent properties. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.