Nucleic Acid Mimetics

The naturally occurring nucleic acids have the ability to selectively recognize complementary partners, and by self-assembly create supramolecular structures capable of storage of genetic information. Chemists are interested in mimicking the makeup and properties of nucleic acids to aid in the understanding of the natural systems, and to create functional nanomaterials for a broad range of potential applications. Nucleobase analogs, including fluorescent, hydrophobic, and inorganic bases, have been successfully incorporated into modified DNA and RNA strands. Analogs of the sugar-phosphate backbone have been constructed to increase the strength of binding between strands, and to create alternative scaffolds for both natural and synthetic nucleobases. Synthetic analogs with a combination of nucleobase and backbone mimics provide routes toward materials with tuned physical properties geared toward specific functions. This review first describes the properties of nucleic acids that serve as models for creation of synthetic analogs before presenting recent research in each of these categories of mimics.