Over the past three
decades, DNA-encoded library (DEL)
technologies
have become one of the most relevant strategies for hit-finding. Recent
advances in synthetic methodologies for DNA-encoded libraries rendered
the increased chemical space available, but it is unknown how every
variety of chemistry affects DNA’s integrity. Available assays
to quantify DNA damage are restricted to electrophoresis, ligation
efficiency, and mostly qPCR quantification and sequencing, which may
contain predisposition and inconsistency. We developed an external
standard method through LC-MS analysis to accurately quantify DNA
damage throughout the chemical transformations. An assessment was
conducted on on-DNA chemical reactions that are frequently employed
in DEL synthesis, and these results were compared to traditional qPCR
measurements. Our study provides a simple, practicable, and accurate
measurement for DNA degradation during DEL synthesis. Our finding
reveals substantial disagreement among the usual DNA-damaging assessment
methods, which have been largely neglected so far.