Nucleoside phosphate analogues of biological interest, and their synthesisvia aryl nucleoside H-phosphonates as intermediates

This review presents a brief account of the chemistry and mechanistic aspec ts of aryl H-phosphonates, and selected applications of this class of compo unds as intermediates in the synthesis of a wide range of biologically impo rtant analogues of nucleoside phosphates, and oligonucleotides, in which th e phosphate moieties are replaced by other structurally related groups. The aryl nucleoside H-phosphonates, compounds of controlled reactivity, have p roven to be more versatile and superior to various mixed anhydrides as synt hetic intermediates, particularly for preparation of nucleotide analogues b earing P-N or P-S bonds in various configurational arrangements at the phos phate moiety.