Crystals in prisms from water.
5-Methylcytosine is used as a marker to protect DNA from being cut by native methylation-sensitive restriction enzymes. It is also employed in the production of 4-amino-5-hydroxy-5-methyl-2-oxo-2,5-dihydro-imidazole-1-carbaldehyde.
ChEBI: A pyrimidine that is a derivative of cytosine, having a methyl group at the 5-position.
Crystallise it from water (solubility is 3.4%). The hydrochloride has m 299-301o (sintering at 280o) (from aqueous HCl/Me2CO). [Hitchings et al. J Biol Chem 177 537 1949, Cohn J Am Chem Soc 73 1539 1951, Beilstein 25 II 183, 25 III/IV 3727.]
