The Crystal and Molecular Structure of 5-Fluoro-2′-Deoxy-β-Uridine

The crystal structure of 5-fluoro-2′-deoxy-β-uridine (FUDR) has been solved and the details of the molecular structure determined by x-ray analysis. The bond lengths and angles have been measured and are compared with the dimensions found for calcium thymidylate and adenylic acid. In all three compounds the bonds formed by the nitrogen atom involved in the glycosidic bond are not coplanar. Furthermore, it is found that in FUDR the C2′ carbon atom is out of the plane of the ribose ring. The possible effect of these observations on nucleic acid structures is discussed