Acyclic Nucleic Acids with Phosphodiester Linkages—Synthesis, Properties and Potential Applications

Abstract

This review summarizes the synthetic efforts on acyclic analogs of nucleic acids and provides information on the most interesting features of selected classes of such compounds. The selection includes the following types of analogs: Flexible (FNA), Unlocked (UNA), Glycol (GNA), Butyl (BuNA), Threoninol (TNA) and Serinol Nucleic Acids (SNA). These classes of analogs are discussed in terms of their synthetic methods, the thermal stability of their homo- and hetero-duplexes and their applicability in biological and biochemical research and nanotechnology.