Hybridon, Inc.

Avecia Biotechnology, Inc.

Jimmy X Tang

Jin-Yan Tang

Zhoada Zhang

Yongxin Han

The invention provides passivated organic polymer supports, processes for their preparation and processes for their use in oligonucleotide synthesis that allow for highly efficient solid phase synthesis of oligonucleotides.

Polymer supports for nucleic acid synthesis

In our research, two commercially available compounds, 3-amino-1,2,4-dithiazole-5-thione (1) and xanthane hydride (2), and their derivatives 3-6 are found to be potential sulfur-transfer reagents. The efficiency and optimization of these new sulfur-transfer reagents were investigated by solid-phase syntheses of dinudeotide and oligonucleotide phosphorothioates. The results show that both compounds 1 and 2 are highly efficient sulfurizing reagents, and better than 99% sulfur transfer efficiency can be achieved at each step. In contrast to Beaucage reagent, these novel sulfur-transfer reagents are very stable in various solvents, and are available in bulk quantities at low cost. Due to these advantages, compounds 1 and 2 can be considered alternatives to Beaucage reagent, especially in large-scale preparation of oligonucleotide phosphorothioates. Furthermore, compounds 1 and 2 were modified to enhance their solubility in acetonitrile. Three types of structure, as described as Formulae I, II, and III, are considered as potential efficient sulfur-transfer reagents based on our results.

Growing community of inventors

Framingham, MA, United States of America

Jimmy X Tang