Atomic Structures of the Molecular Components in DNA and RNA based on Bond Lengths as Sums of Atomic Radii

Abstract

The interpretation by the author in recent years of bond lengths as sums of the relevant atomic or ionic radii has been extended here to the bonds in the skeletal structures of adenine, guanine, thymine, cytosine, uracil, ribose, deoxyribose and phosphoric acid. On examining the bond length data in the literature, it has been found that the averages of the bond lengths are close to the sums of the corresponding atomic covalent radii of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and phosphorus. Thus, the conventional molecular structures have been resolved here, for the first time, into probable atomic structures.