The treatment of nucleic acid bases, nucleosides, and nucleotides with peroxodisulfate ion in a phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.0 or water at 70—75 °C was investigated. The reaction of thymine and 5-methylcytosine nucleosides and nucleotides resulted in the oxidation of the 5-methyl groups. The oxidation products from 1,3-dimethyluracils and the time-course of the reaction of uracils led to two plausible reaction mechanisms for the oxidation of uracils.

No abstract

Oxidation of 5-bromo-1,3-dimethyluracil by KHSO5 gave 5,5-dibromo-6-hydroxy- and 5,5,6-trihydroxy-1,3-dimethyl-5,6-dihydrouracils and that of 5-fluoro-1,3-dimethyluracil by Na2S2O8 gave a 6,6′-dimeric product.

A new series of liquid crystalline compounds, which contained two biphenyl and one p-nitrophenyl groups linked by two flexible spacers, were prepared. The flexible spacer between two biphenyl groups is fixed and consists of nine (odd number) atoms. The compounds showed nematic phase, although some of them exhibited nematic and smectic phases upon cooling. The isotropic-nematic transitional properties depended on the length and parity of the flexible spacers between the biphenyl and p-nitrophenyl groups. Such odd-even effect was in consistency with the feature of liquid crystal trimers. The liquid crystalline properties were compared with those of the related compounds.

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