Homo-N-nucleosides: Incorporation into oligonucleotides and antiviral activity

Homo-N-nucleosides can be efficiently synthesized from 2-deoxyribose. When incorporated in an oligonucleotide, the compounds have a detrimental influence on duplex stability and on the catalytic activity of hammerhead ribozymes. However, homo-N-nucleosides with a guanine or adenine base moiety do exhibit selective antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2).