Several new analogues of polyadenylic acid [(A)n], i.e. poly(2-fluoroadenylic acid) [(fl2A)n], poly(2-chloroadenylic acid [(cl2A)n], poly(2-bromoadenylic acid) [(br2A)n] and poly(2-iodoadenylic acid) [(io2A)n] have been synthesized and evaluated for their effects on the RNA-directed DNA polymerase (reverse transcriptase) activity of Moloney murine leukaemia virus. All (A)n analogues were found to be potent inhibitors of reverse transcriptase, the order of (decreasing) potency being (fl2A)n greater than (io2A)n greater than (br2A)n greater than (cl2A)n. For all four (A)n analogues the inhibition of reverse transcriptase was competitive with respect to the template-primer. (A)n . oligo(dT). The K1 values were 0.02 microgram/ml for (fl2A)n, 0.1 microgram/ml for (io2A)n, 0.5 microgram/ml for (br2A)n and 8 microgram/ml for (cl2A)n. With a Ki of 0.02 microgram/ml (approx. 0.04 microM), (fl2A)n can be considered as one of the most, if not the most, potent polynucleotide inhibitor of reverse transcriptase that has been described so far.