Conceptual

Hydrogen Bonding between Nucleotides

Hydrogen Bonding between Nucleotides describes the non-covalent electrostatic attraction occurring between hydrogen atom donors and electronegative atom acceptors on complementary nitrogenous bases. This interaction is governed by specific geometric criteria regarding donor-acceptor distance and angle, as well as strict steric complementarity between purine and pyrimidine structures. The theory establishes a quantitative rule set where hydrogen bonds serve as the primary mechanism for stabilizing double-helical structures without forming permanent covalent linkages.