Identification and Quantification of N6‑Methyladenosine in DNA by Chemical Derivatization Coupled with 19f Nmr Spectroscopy

6mA is a well-known prokaryotic DNA modification that has been shown to exist and play epigenetic roles in eukaryotic DNA. The inert chemical property of 6mA makes it very challenging to detect, impeding our understanding of 6mA biological roles. The existing methods have several problems, including time-consuming, high false positive rate and complex operating procedure. Fluorinated phenylboronic acid combined with 19F NMR technique was an effective method for molecular recognition. In this study, we presented a simple and fast chemical method to label 6mA by a boric-acid-derived probe. Besides, the trifluoromethyl group of 2a could detect 6mA based on 19F NMR. Combined with this sensor system, 6mA could be well and fast detected in 6 kinds of deoxynucleosides mixture and DNA samples. Taken together, this method developed in the current study has a potential for specific detection of 6mA in complex samples.