Thymidine

Thymidine is a pyrimidine nucleoside.

Chemical Formula: C₁₀H₁₄N₂O₅

Other names: 1-(2-Deoxy-beta-D-ribofuranosyl)-5-methyluracil

Layman's explanation: Thymidine is an organic base of the pyrimidine family. Thymidine is significant because of its involvement in the biosynthesis of DNA and in the preservation and transfer of genetic information. This nucleic acid base is present in all cells of the human body. Thymidine is a pyrimidine or a two ring structure that hydrogen bonds to a purine to complete a stable structure. A carbon sugar ring attaches to nitrogen in the base to form an N-glycosylic bond. The nitrogenous bases, which are primarily nonpolar, pack tightly enough to exclude water and form a stable, primarily nonpolar environment in the helix interior.

Keywords: nitrogenous base, nonpolar, pyrimidine

Crystallographic details...
More visualization options...
See other versions...

Reciprocal Net site software 0.9.1-50, copyright (c) 2002-2009, The Trustees of Indiana University
Files and data presented via this software are property of their respective owners.
Reciprocal Net is funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation as part of the National Science Digital Library project.