Naw nucleoside heteroanalogues, 5'- and 9'-desoxynucleoside selenocyanates
and primary desoxysugar selenocyanates, were synthesized from activated nuc
leoside and sugar derivatives and a new convenient seleno nucleophile, tetr
abutylammonium selenocyanate. Tresylate-based activation of hydroxy functio
ns turned out to be most successful for formation of these selenocyanates c
ompared with mesylate- or triflate-based activation. (C) 1999 Elsevier Scie
nce Ltd. All rights reserved.