Efficient synthesis of [2-15N]guanosine and 2'-deoxy[2'-15N]guanosine derivatives using N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl)[15N]phthalimide as a 15N-labeling reagent.
Nucleophilic aromatic substitution of 9-(2,3,5-tri-O-acetyl-beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-6-chloro-2-fluoro-9H-purine with N-(tert-butyldimethylsilyl) [15N]phthalimide in the presence of a catalytic amount of CsF at room temperature in DMF efficiently afforded the 6-chloro-2-[15N]phthalimidopurine derivative, which was subsequently converted to the [2-15N]guanosine derivative. The 2'-deoxy[2'-15N]guanosine derivative was also efficiently synthesized through a similar procedure.