Substituent effects on degradation rates and pathways of cytosine nucleosides

A previous report on the influence of a 6-methyl substituent on cytosine nucleoside degradation proposed that N-glycosyl hydrolysis predominated over the deamination pathway which was characteristic of the unsubstituted parent compounds. The UV absorption data which led to this hypothesis were not conclusive. Evidence for N-glycosyl hydrolysis was indirect and the product concentration was not quantitated. In the present study, specific HPLC methods were employed to assay four cytosine nucleosides and their corresponding bases, thus allowing comparison of the N-glycosyl hydrolysis rate to the overall rate of loss for each nucleoside. These data indicated that the 6-methyl nucleosides underwent partial or complete hydrolysis to yield their corresponding sugars and 6-methylcytosine, which then deaminated to 6-methyluracil. An increase in the reactivity and a change in the reaction products of the 6-methyl nucleosides were attributed to an alteration in conformation. In addition, the 6-methyl arabinosyl nucleoside reacted much faster than the 6-methyl ribosyl nucleoside, presumably due to 2'-OH participation. Degradation of 5-methyl deoxycytidine was also re-examined since its degradation was previously attributed solely to N-glycosyl hydrolysis. In the present study, simultaneous deamination and hydrolysis were measured, although N-glycosyl hydrolysis was found to predominate.