Reaction of 4-(dimethylamino)pyridine and 1-methylimidazole, respectively,
on 2-amino-4-chloro-6-hydroxypyrimidine resulted in the formation of pyrimi
dine-heteroarenium salts. These could be deprotonated using anion exchange
resin to yield pyridinium-pyrimidinolates as model compounds for biological
ly highly important betainic guanines present in RNA. As proved by ESIMS, t
hese cross-conjugated mesomeric betaines are self-complementary and form ho
mo-intermolecular dimers.