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Oligoribonucleotide Synthesis

The Silyl-Phosphoramidite Method

  • Protocol
Protocols for Oligonucleotides and Analogs

Part of the book series: Methods in Molecular Biology ((MIMB,volume 20))

Abstract

In 1968, one of us began a quest to develop a general method for the synthesis of RNA sequences. The major problems associated with the chemical assembly of ribonucleotide chains were already well established. RNA sequences are very sensitive to chemical and enzymatic degradation. Consequently, all procedures involved in the assembly of RNA chains must respect the delicacy of the assembled chain. Further, the assembly of RNA sequences is complicated by the presence of a 2′-hydroxyl group in the monomeric ribonucleosides that form the starting materials for the chemical assembly of RNA chains. The 2′-hydroxyl must be blocked (or “protected”) with a protecting group that remains stable throughout the many steps of a chain assembly yet that is labile enough to be removed at the end of chain assembly without leading to cleavage of the assembled chain. Finally, it was clear even in the late 1960s that in order to be convincing the method must be capable of producing an RNA chain of the length of a tRNA in order to overcome the inherent skepticism of chemical synthesis of RNA.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Masad J. Damha

  2. Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Kelvin K Ogilvie

Authors
  1. Masad J. Damha
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  2. Kelvin K Ogilvie
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology, Shrewsbury, Massachusetts

    Sudhir Agrawal

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© 1993 Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ

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Damha, M.J., Ogilvie, K.K. (1993). Oligoribonucleotide Synthesis. In: Agrawal, S. (eds) Protocols for Oligonucleotides and Analogs. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 20. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-281-7:81

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1385/0-89603-281-7:81

  • Publisher Name: Humana Press

  • Print ISBN: 978-0-89603-281-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-59259-507-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Protocols

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