Pyrimidine dimer

Pyrimidine dimers are molecular lesions formed from thymine or cytosine bases in DNA via photochemical reactions, commonly associated with direct DNA damage. Ultraviolet light (UV; particularly UVC) induces the formation of covalent linkages between consecutive bases along the nucleotide chain in the vicinity of their carbon–carbon double bonds. The photo-coupled dimers are fluorescent. The dimerization reaction can also occur among pyrimidine bases in dsRNA (double-stranded RNA)—uracil or cytosine. Two common UV products are cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and 6–4 photoproducts. These premutagenic lesions alter the structure of the DNA helix and cause non-canonical base pairing. Specifically, adjacent thymines or cytosines in DNA will form a cyclobutane ring when joined together and cause a distortion in the DNA. This distortion prevents replication or transcription machinery beyond the site of the dimerization. Up to 50–100 such reactions per second might occur in a skin cell

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Photophysics and Photochemistry of DNA Molecules: Electronic Excited States Leading to Thymine Dimerization

Jianing Li

2018

5-Pyrimidyllithium species are fairly stable when the metal is flanked by two electron-withdrawing substituents such as trifluoromethyl and chlorine or bromine. Thus, the corresponding 5-carboxylic acids are produced in high yields from 4,5-dibromo-6-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine and 5-bromo-4-chloro-6-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine upon halogen/metal permutation accomplished with isopropylmagnesium chloride or butyllithium followed by carboxylation. Satisfactory or excellent yields of 5-carboxylic acids are equally obtained when 4-chloro-, 2,4-dichloro- and 2,4-dibromo-6-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine are deprotonated with lithium diisopropylamide before being allowed to react with dry ice. In contrast, consecutive treatment of 2-bromo-4-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine and 2-chloro-5-iodo-4-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine with butyllithium affords the expected carboxylic acids in only poor yields and not even trace amts. of acid were detected when 4-bromo-6-(trifluoromethyl)pyrimidine served as the substrate. The formation of bipyrimidines, emerging from either one of two competing mechanistic pathways, is a permanently menacing side reaction. [on SciFinder (R)]

2006

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