Oxidation of deoxyribose in DNA results in the formation of a variety of electrophilic products that have the potential to react with nucleobases to form adducts. We now report that 2-phosphoglycolaldehyde, a model for the 3'-phosphoglycolaldehyde residue generated by 3'-oxidation of deoxyribose in DNA, reacts with dG and DNA to form the diastereomeric 1,N2-glyoxal adducts of dG, 3-(2-deoxy-beta-D-erythro-pentofuransyl)-6,7-dihydro-6,7-dihydroxyimidazo[1,2-a]purine-9(3H)-one. The glyoxal adducts were the predominant species formed under biological conditions (pH 7.4 and 37 degrees C), with several minor fluorescent adducts, including 1,N6-ethenoadenine. The adducts were fully characterized by HPLC, mass spectrometry, and UV and NMR spectroscopy. The reaction of 2-phosphoglycolaldehyde with dG occurred with a rate constant of 10(-6) M(-1) s(-1) compared to the rate constants of 0.08 and approximately 10(-9) M(-1) s(-1) for the reactions of glyoxal and glycolaldehyde with dG, respectively. The kinetic results rule out contamination of 2-phosphoglycolaldehyde preparations with glyoxal as the basis for our observations. The rate constant for the formation of glyoxal from 2-phosphoglycolaldehyde (10(-8) s(-1)) is consistent with glyoxal generation being the rate-limiting step in the formation of dG adducts in reactions with 2-phosphoglycolaldehyde. Mechanistic studies were also undertaken to define the basis for the different oxidation states of glyoxal and 2-phosphoglycolaldehyde. Although 2-phosphoglycolaldehyde produced a weak ESR signal consistent with generation of hydroxyl radicals and it caused DNA strand breaks at high concentrations, the formation of the glyoxal adducts of dG was insensitive to radical quenchers (e.g., sorbitol) and independent of molecular oxygen. In contrast, the formation of glyoxal-dG adducts with glycolaldehyde was dependent on molecular oxygen and quenched by sorbitol, and the glycolaldehyde-glyoxal rearrangement produced a strong ESR signal characteristic of alkyl radicals. These observations are consistent with a model in which glyoxal is generated from 2-phosphoglycolaldehyde by a nonradical, oxygen-independent mechanism that is currently under investigation. Our results provide a mechanistic basis for the observation by Murata-Kamiya et al. [(1995) Carcinogenesis 16, 2251-2253] that oxidation of DNA with the Fe(II)-EDTA complex results in the formation of the glyoxal adducts of dG.