Oligonucleotide analogs containing sulfur linkages

A compound having the formula:

• S.sub.1 (J.sub.1 --A.sub.1 --J.sub.2 --A.sub.2).sub.n S.sub.2
• wherein
• n is an integer less than 25;
• wherein S.sub.1 is selected from the group consisting of alkyl and aralkyl and S.sub.2 is selected from the group consisting of hydroxyl, S-alkyl and S-aralkyl;
• J.sub.1 and J.sub.2 are linking groups independently selected from the group consisting of sulfide, sulfoxide, and sulfone whereby J.sub.1 and J.sub.2 may be different in each n subunit;
• A.sub.1 and A.sub.2 may be different in each n subunit and are independently selected from the formulae consisting of:
• ##STR5## wherein V is independently selected from --O-- or --CH.sub.2 --;
• E is a base analog independently selected from the group consisting of adenine, 7-deazaadenine, 7-deaza-8-azaadenine, 3,7-dideazaadenine, 8-deazaadenine, guanine, 3-deazaguanine, 7-deaza-8-azaguanine, 3,7-dideazaaguanine, 3,7-dideaza-8-azaguanine, 7-deazaguanine, 8-azaguanine, purine, azapurine, 2,6-diaminopurine. hypoxanthine, uracil, 5-azauracil, 6-azauracil, 5-fluorouracil, 5-bromouracil, 5-iodouracil, thymine, 6-azathymine, cytosine, 6-azacytosine, 5-azacytosine, pyrimidine, azapyrimidine, pyrrolopyrimidine, pyrazolopyrimidine, triazolopyrimidine, imidazolopyrimidine, pyridine, imidazolopyridine, pyrrolopyridine, pyrazolopyridine and triazolopyridine;
• L.sub.1 is a linking roup containing from zero to four linking units independently selected from the group consisting of --CH.sub.2 --and --O--;
• L.sub.2 is a linking group containing from 1 to 5 linking units independently selected from the group consisting of --CH.sub.2 and --O--;
• L.sub.3 is a linking group containing from 0 to 5 linking units independently selected from the group consisting of --CH.sub.2 -- and --O--;
• whereby for each A.sub.1 or A.sub.2 of formula (II), the number of linking units in L.sub.1 is less than or equal to the sum of the number of linking units in L.sub.2 and L.sub.3.

A compound having the formula:

• ##STR6## wherein is an integer less than 25;
• wherein S.sub.1 is selected from the group consisting of alkyl and aralkyl and S.sub.2 is selected from the group consisting of hyroxyl, 8-alkyl and 8-aralkyl,
• J is a linking group independently selected from the group consisting of sulfide, sulfoxide, and sulfone,
• V is independently selected from --O-- or CH.sub.2 --;
• and
• B is a base analog independently selected from the group consisting of adenine, 7-deazaadenine, 7-deaza-8-azaadenine, 3,7-dideazaadenine, 8-deazaadenine, guanine, 3-deazaguanine, 7-deaza-8-azaguanine, 3,7-dideazaaguanine, 3,7-dideaza-8-azaguanine, 7-deazaguanine, 8-azaguanine, purine, azapurine, 2,6-diaminopurine, hypoxanthine, uracil, 5-azauracil, 6-azauracil, 5-fluorouracil, 5-bromouracil, 5-iodouracil, thymine, 6-azathymine, cytosine, 6-azacytosine, 5-azacytosine, pyrimidine, azapyrimidine, pyrrolopyrimidine, pyrazolopyrimidine, triazolopyrimidine, imidazolopyrimidine, pyridine, imidazolopyridine, pyrrolopyridine, pyrazolopyridine and triazolopyridine,
• whereby J, V, and B may be different in each n subunit.