Boron and nucleic acid chemistries: merging the best of both worlds

Abstract

At the intersection of nucleic acid and boron chemistries lies a thriving world of possibilities. During the past decades, the merging of these research domains has led to fascinating discoveries in different fields ranging from material to medical sciences. In recent years the interplay of these two worlds has gained a lot of attention, as can be judged by the increasing number of articles in which boron and nucleic acids stand out for their potential medicinal, biotechnological or analytical applications. In this review, we present an outline of this crossroads by focusing on both the interaction of boronated compounds with nucleic acids and the modification of nucleic acids by boron containing moieties.