Abstract
The interactions of methylmercury (MM) with purine and pyrimidine bases (DNA constituents) have been examined through physico-chemical studies, as tests of the hypothesis that the toxicity of MM could arise through mechanisms alternative to reaction with sulfhydryl and disulfide groups of aminoacids and proteins. We have thus isolated solid CH//3Hg**I**I containing complexes of nucleosides from the interaction with CH//3HgNO//3 in aqueous solution under predetermined conditions of pH and stoichiometry.