A new odorless procedure for the synthesis of 2'-deoxy-6-thioguanosine and its incorporation into oligodeoxynucleotides.

6-S-[2-[(2-ethylhexyl)oxycarbonyl]ethyl)}-3',5'-O-bis(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)-2'-deoxy-6-thiogua nosine (2) was synthesized in high yield from the corresponding 6-O-mesitylenesulfonyl derivative by the reaction with 2-ethylhexyl 3-mercapto-propionate. The phosphoramidite precursor derived from 2 was successfully applied to an automated DNA synthesizer to produce 2'-deoxy-6-thioguanosine containing ODN. The results showed that 2-ethylhexyl 3-mercaptopropionate is useful as an odor less reagent and also as an S-protecting group of 2'-deoxy-6-thioguanosine.