Ferrocenylated
glycol nucleic acid (Fc-GNA) components are rarely
studied in the field of xeno nucleic acid (XNA) chemistry. As an attempt
to contribute to XNA chemistry, in the present article we report a
seven-step synthesis of the first semicanonical dinucleoside containing the Fc-GNA nucleoside linked
to the adenosine nucleoside with a phosphodiester bond. First, the
nucleoside-bearing ethynylferrocenyl moiety in the C5 position of
the uracil nucleobase was obtained. In the following steps, the nucleoside
was transformed into the phosphoramidite intermediate that in turn
was reacted with N
6-benzoyl-2′,3′-O-isopropylideneadenosine to afford the target dinucleoside
phosphate with 47% yield. The newly obtained Fc-GNA nucleoside is
redox-active, and on the basis of this property (function), it belongs to a new class of functional GNA (fun-GNA) nucleosides. The electrochemistry of the Fc-GNA
nucleoside, dinucleoside phosphate, and ferrocenyl furanopyrimidone
nucleoside that was obtained as an undesired byproduct of Fc-GNA nucleoside
synthesis was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV). The CV result
showed the presence of a one-electron ferrocenyl-centered redox wave
in each case. The half-wave potentials of the Fc-GNA nucleoside and
dinucleoside phosphate were 89 and 99 mV, respectively, against the
FcH/FcH+ couple. Finally, the activity of the newly obtained
Fc-GNA components was studied against the nontumorigenic mouse L929
and human cervix adenocarcinoma HeLa cells. The synthesized compounds
showed no cytotoxic activity against the tested cell lines.