Abstract: Nucleoside derivatives which contain a nucleo-base, a sugar and an amino acid backbone of the structure: ##STR1## where R' refers to the various amino acid side chains or their blocked equivalent and R refers to a nucleo-base or its blocked equivalent. The synthesis of these nucleoside derivatives proceeds by a series of steps including oxidation of the 3'-azido nucleoside derivative, coupling to a benzylated ester of an amino acid to yield the amide and hydrogenation. The adenine, guanine, cytosine and thymine nucleosides with an amino acid at the 5' terminus are synthesized. From such monomers oligonucleotides can be synthesized which possess an amino acid backbone, using either solid state phase chemistry or liquid phase chemistry.