The acylation of several primary sulfonamides with N-6-benzoyl-2',3'-isopropylidene-5'-carboxylic acid-5 ' deoxyadenosine (1) is described. Literature methods for the construction of the N-acyl sulfonamide functionality proved ineffective for synthesizing 5'-N-acyl sulfonamide derivatives of I. The combination of DCC/DMAP provided the mild conditions necessary to effect coupling of the protected nucleoside acid with various primary sulfonamides in good to high yield. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.