L-alpha-lyxopyranosyl (4'-->3') oligonucleotides: a base-pairing system containing a shortened backbone.

[formula: see text] The L-alpha-lyxopyranosyl (4'-->3') oligonucleotide system shows cooperative base-pairing in spite of containing only five instead of the usual six covalent bonds per repetitive backbone unit. In contrast, corresponding D-beta-ribofuranosyl (4'-->3') oligonucleotides do not show adenine-thymine pairing under comparable conditions. The difference in pairing behavior relates to the conformation of the two systems' vicinal 3',4'-phosphodiester substituents, which is diaxial in the lyxopyranosyl system and 3'-axial-4'-equatorial in the ribopyranosyl system.