What is "acrydite"

Acrydite is a phosphoramidite that allows the synthesis of oligonucleotides with a methacryl group at the 5' end (less commonly 3' or internal). Acryl oligonucleotides have been tested, but the acryl group is not stable to storage. Acrydite modified oligonucleotides can react with nucleophiles such as thiols ( Michael addition chemistry), this forms the basis of the ez-rays chemistry which was used for microarrays. More importantly, Acrydite modified oligonucleotides can be incorporated, stoichiometrically, into hydrogels such as polyacrylamide, using standard free radical polymerization chemistry, where the double bond in the Acrydite group reacts with other activated double bond containing compounds such as acrylamide.