Two synthetic pathways towards 4'-C-acylthymidines are presented. Thes
e modified mononucleosides are precursors of the 2'-deoxyribonucleotid
e 4'-C-radical. They were converted into their corresponding 3'-O-[(2-
cyanoethyl) N,N-diisopropylphosphoramidites] 3a-c and incorporated in
oligonucleotides by solid-phase synthesis. The structure of some modif
ied nucleosides was revealed by X-ray crystal-structure analysis.