Oligonucleotides with cyclohexene-nucleoside building blocks: crystallization and preliminary X-ray studies of a left-handed sequence GTGTACAC.

Cyclohexene nucleic acids contain a cyclohexene ring instead of the normal beta-D-2'-deoxyribose. The cyclohexene oligonucleotide GTGTACAC was synthesized using phosphoramidite chemistry and standard protecting groups. Crystals of GTGTACAC were obtained at 289 K by the hanging-drop vapour-diffusion technique. The crystals diffract to 1.7 A resolution and belong to the trigonal space group R3, with unit-cell parameters a = 41.434, c = 66.735 A.