Fullerene–Oligonucleotide Conjugates: Photoinduced Sequence‐Specific DNA Cleavage

Abstract

The guanine-specific cleavage of oligonucleotides is achieved with the conjugate 1, which contains a fullerene tethered to a tetradecadeoxyribonucleotide Nu(pNu)n. This conjugate was able to form a duplex with a complementary oligonucleotide, and triplexes with appropriate double-stranded oligonucleotides. Irradiation of the complexes leads to site-specfic cleavage of the target sequences—probably through the action of singlet oxygen.