| Abstract
| - Reaction of bromine with thymidine in aqueous solution produces, in high yield, the corresponding5-bromo-6-hydroxy-5,6-dihydroderivative (thymidine bromohydrins). UVC photolysis of thymidinebromohydrins gives rise to a reactive intermediate that is converted into 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2‘-deoxyuridine upon incubation in water. When the former compound is left in methanol, ethanol,or propanol, the corresponding 5-alkoxymethyl derivatives are produced. The proposed structurefor the primary photolysis product of thymidine bromohydrins is a methide derivative of the thyminering. This compound could be an interesting intermediate in the synthesis of methyl-substitutedthymidine.
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