Properties of Nucleotides
Cellular components containing either the purine or pyrimidine bases can be easily detected because of the strong absorption of uv light by these compounds. The purine bases, nucleosides and nucleotides have stronger absorptions than the pyrimidines and their derivatives. The molar extinction coefficients (a measure of light absorption at a specific wavelength of a compound) and for these are given in Table 13.2. The wavelength of light at which maximum absorption occurs varies with the particular base component, but in most cases the uv maximum is close to260 nm.