Lipophilic oligonucleotide conjugates represent a powerful tool for nucleic acid cellular delivery, and many methods for their synthesis have been developed over the past few decades. In the present study, a number of chemical approaches for the synthesis of different fork- and comb-like dodecyl-containing oligonucleotide structures were performed, including use of non-nucleotide units and different types of phosphate modifications such as alkyl phosphoramidate, phosphoryl guanidine, and triazinyl phosphoramidate. The influence of the number of introduced lipophilic residues, their mutual arrangement, and the type of formed modification backbone on cell penetration was evaluated. The results obtained indicate great potential in the developed chemical approaches, not only for the synthesis of complex oligonucleotide structures but also for the fine-tuning of their properties.
Keywords: conjugates; delivery; lipophilic oligonucleotides; phosphoryl guanidine; triazinyl phosphoramidate.