ART/JS 10th February, 1953
Professor Linus Pauling,
Gates and Crellin Laboratories,
California Institute of Technology,
Pasadena 4,
U.S.A.
Dear Linus,
On my return from India I found your letter of 19th December awaiting me with the
exciting news that you think you have got the structure of the nucleic acids. I shall
be most interested to get more detail of it and I hope you will keep me posted. Certainly
if there is any help we can give you we will be only too glad to do so.
I have seen Bragg and Cochran about this question
of nucleotide examination because I agree with you that we
are sorely in need of data on these substances. Cochran is
actually doing an examination of adenylic acid b which he
got from us, and he also has a sample of muscle adenylic
acid which he is looking at in a preliminary way. I
understand that these nucleotides are very difficult subjects
for study and I do not think that Cochran is likely to tackle
more than these two in the near future. I would say then
that if you keep off the phosphates of adenosine you would
not be duplicating their present work.
As regards other people who might be doing something of the sort, Zussmann, who was
here in the Cavendish and then went to Manchester, took away with him a sample of
the crystalline barium salt of uridine-5' phosphate which we gave him. We have
not heard from him since and so I do not know whether he is working on it seriously
or not. Furberg in Oslo is also supposed to be working on cytidylic acid b and he was at us some time ago for a sample of ribose-5 phosphate, but again I know
nothing about his progress.
So far, of course, we have been the chief suppliers of these substances although
a number of then can probably be got in the States. In addition to those above
mentioned, the following ribonucleotides are crystalline and we either have them
available or could get them for you:
uridylic acid b and cytidine-5' phosphate,and cutidylic acid a
Professor Linus Pauling
page 2
I have wondered, however, whether, since as far as I know no-one is doing anything
about the deoxyribonucleotides, and since we have been synthesizing them and it is
most unlikely that anyone else can produce them, you might wish to look at some of
them. We have so far made both the 3' and 5' phosphates of thymidine and deoxycytidine,
and we are at present preparing the corresponding substances from deoxyadenosine and
deoxyguanosine. I wonder if you would let me know what things you think you would
like to have, and as soon as I hear from you I can get samples of them sent off.
You mention ATP in your letter. Actually we have never been able to crystallise free
ATP, and the only crystalline derivative we have is acridine salt; the substance itself
and its barium salt seem to be resolutely amorphous. At the moment I do not think
we have any good preparation on hand but we have a main in the lab, who is making
some ATP, so if
you would like to have it I can let you have some in the form of a salt when it is
ready.
I look forward to hearing from you soon and meantime send best regards to all of you.
Yours,
Alex
