2'-O-[2-(amino)-2-oxoethyl] oligonucleotides.

[structure: see text] Oligonucleotides with novel modifications, 2'-O-[2-(amino)-2-oxoethyl] (2'-O-NAc), 2'-O-[2-(methylamino)-2-oxoethyl] (2'-O-NMAc), 2'-O-[2-(dimethylamino)-2-oxoethyl] (2'-O-DMAc), and 2'-O-[2-[[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl]amino]-2-oxoethyl] (2'-O-DMAEAc), have been synthesized. These modified oligonucleotides exhibit high binding affinity to complementary RNA (and not to DNA) and considerably enhance the nuclease stability of oligonucleotides with t(1/2) > 24 h.