AN EFFICIENT METHOD FOR THE ISOLATION AND PURIFICATION OF OLIGORIBONUCLEOTIDES

Problems associated with the use of tetrabutylammonium fluoride like i ncomplete desilylation and removal of the tetrabutylammonium salts dur ing large scale syntheses of oligoribonucleotides (RNA) have been elim inated by the use of triethylamine trihydrofluoride and precipitation of the RNA with 1-butanol. An efficient anion-exchange HPLC method has been developed for the purification of chemically synthesized RNA and the resulting product precipitated directly by the addition of 1-prop anol. A new activator, 5-ethylthio-1H-tetrazole significantly enhances the synthesis quality and yield of oligoribonucleotides. RNA synthesi zed using these improvements has been