Optimized Synthesis of Fmoc/Boc‐Protected PNA Monomers and their Assembly into PNA Oligomers

Continuous advancement of application of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligomers encouraged exploration of rapid and efficient synthesis of PNA monomers and oligomers. Among the PNA monomers developed, only a few are commonly used in automated PNA synthesis. Herein, we report short and efficient protocols suitable for large‐scale synthesis of Fmoc/Boc‐protected PNA monomers with advantageous solubility properties; these also facilitate purification due to the traceless nature of the Boc protecting group. Initially, several coupling reagents were screened for assembly of a pentamer containing all four nucleobases, and then the most promising reagents were tested in the synthesis of a decamer. The Fmoc/Boc‐protected monomers proved compatible with both manual synthesis and assembly on an automated peptide synthesizer at room temperature or at 40 °C. As compared to the commonly used coupling agent, 1‐[bis(dimethylamino)methylene]‐1H‐1,2,3‐triazolo[4,5‐b]pyridinium 3‐oxide hexafluorophosphate (HATU), both 2‐(1H‐benzotriazol‐1‐yl)‐1,1,3,3‐tetramethyluronium hexafluorophosphate (HBTU) and [ethyl cyano(hydroxyimino)acetato−O2]tri‐1‐pyrrolidinylphosphonium hexafluorophosphate (PyOxim) proved more favorable, with the latter being superior. A previously reported side reaction of guanine bases in the presence of benzotriazol‐1‐yl‐oxytripyrrolidinophosphonium hexafluorophosphate (PyBOP) was not observed with the phosphonium salts. Fmoc/Boc‐protected PNA monomers were efficiently synthesized on a multigram scale and proved compatible with PNA oligomer synthesis by using manual and automated protocols. Screening of coupling conditions included isolation of byproducts and determination of purity by analytical HPLC and MALDI‐TOF mass spectrometry; this revealed phosphonium salts as superior coupling reagents for assembly of PNA.