Natural abundance I5N and " 0 N M R studies have been carried out on a series of organophosphorus compounds for the purpose of determining "P-"Y and 3 ' P -' 7 0 nuclear spin couplings. The 3 ' P -' s N couplings are sensitive to both electronegativity of substituent and conformation. Finite perturbation coupling calculations within the C N D 0 / 2 approximation were performed to probe the effect of conformation and structure as well as the trigonal-pyramidal geometry balance at the nitrogen. Theoretical 3 ' P -1 7 0 couplings were also computed for a wide variety of P -0 bonding situations, giving clear evidence for the dominance of the coupling by the Fermi contact mechanism. New experimental 3 ' P -' 7 0 couplings include those for R3P=O for R = C, N, F, CI, and Br.Abstract: Carbon-I 3 magnetic resonance spectra of 8-substituted purine nucleosides were measured. Substitution of the 8-POsition of adenosine with various substituents (-Br, -CI, -SCH3, -SCH>CH3, -SH, -0CH3, -OH, and -CH3) causcd charactcristic upfield shifts (-2 to -3 ppm) of the 2'-carbon signal. The same phenomena was also observed in the case of R-substitutcd guanosines (-Br, -SCH3, -OH, and -CH3), 8-substituted inosines (-Br, -OH, and -CHI), and 2-ethylthio-8-methylinosine. This upfield shift of the 2'-carbon signal for these nucleosides was assumed to be due to their syn conformation placing the lone pair of electrons of base N(3) close to the sugar C(2')-H(2') bond. The effects of 8-substituents on the chemical shifts of base carbons are also discussed.The direction of the base plane relative to the sugar moiety, the glycosidic torsion angle, in a nucleoside is one of the most important parameters determining its conformational properties. It is well known that most of the natural nucleosides take an anti' conformation in crystals2 and in ~o l u t i o n .~ A syn' conformation, in which the base direction is reversed with reJournal of the American Chemical Society / 99.1 0 / M a y 11, I977