| abstract |
The invention relates to compounds of the formula I where R1 is H, alkyl, acyl, aryl, or a phosphate residue; R2 is H, OH, alkoxy, NH2, or halogen; B is a base customary in nucleotide chemistry; a is O or CH2; n is an integer from 1 to 100; W=O, S or Se; V=O, S, or NH; Y=O, S, NH, or CH2; Y'=O, S, NH, or alkylene; X=OH or SH; U=OH, SH, SeH, alkyl, alkoxy, aryl, aryloxy, or amine, and Z=OH, SH, SeH, an optionally substituted radical from the group comprising alkyl, aryl, heteroaryl, alkoxy, or amino, or a group which favors intracellular uptake or serves as the label of a DNA probe or attacks the target nucleic acid during hybridization, where if Z=OH, SH, CH3, or OC2H5, at least one of the groups X, Y, Y', V, or W is not OH or O or R1 is not H; a process for their preparation and their use as inhibitors of gene expression, as probes for detecting nucleic acids and as aids in molecular biology. |