Synthesis of the deuterated thymidine-d and deuterated oligonucleotides

The efficient synthesis of the highly-deuterated thymidine-d9 by the glycosylation reaction between a deuterated nucleobase and deuterated sugar is described. It is also incorporated into the oligonucleotides using a DNA synthesizer. Using this approach, it is possible to make highly-deuterated oligonucleotides for biological studies and structural analyses.