Efficient transfer of information from hexitol nucleic acids to RNA duringnonenzymatic oligomerization

Hexitol nucleic acids (HNAs) are DNA analogues that contain the standard nu cleoside bases attached to a phosphorylated 1,5-anhydrohexitol backbone. We find that HNAs support efficient information transfer in nonenzymatic temp late-directed reactions. HNA heterosequences appeared to be superior to the corresponding DNA heterosequences in facilitating synthesis of complementa ry oligonucleotides from nucleoside-5'-phosphoro-2-methyl imidazolides.