To characterize structural factors affecting kinetic parameters of chemical ligation, DNA duplexes with various arrangements of reacting groups in the ligation site have been synthesized and studied. The modifications included replacement of a deoxythymidine with a uridine or a nucleoside having reversed configuration at C2' and/or C3' atoms, the modified residue being phosphate donor or acceptor; introduction of an "extra" nucleotide residue; replacement of a G.C pair second to the junction with a noncomplementary G.G pair. Thermal stability of the anomalous nucleotide duplexes has been characterized. Based on analysis of the kinetic parameters of chemical ligation, a suggestion is made about the conformation of the reactive site.