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Other nitrogenous bases

Guanine (G): 2-amino-6-oxopurine.

Both adenine and guanine have a two-ring core (benzene and imidazole = purine), so they are called purine bases. Both take part in DNA and RNA.


Other bases have a single ring (pyrimidine), and they are called pyrimidine bases; there are 3 major ones:

Cytosine (C): 2-oxo-4-aminopyrimidine

Uracil (U): 2,4-dioxopyrimidine

Thymine (T): 2,4-dioxo-5-methylpyrimidine

C and T take part in DNA, C and U in RNA.