Polymer-bound xanthosine (4) has been prepared. Condensation of xanthosine with ethyl 4-oxovalerate and saponification of the product gave 2',3'-O-[1-(2-carboxyethyl)ethylidene] xanthosine. The latter was coupled to 6-aminohexylagarose through its carboxylic group, to yield the polymer 4. The content of bound ligand was 8 mumol/g of moist gel, a value that agrees with the number of free amino groups determined by the trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid assay before coupling. Immobilised xanthosine was used as a biospecific resin (inhibitor resin) for guanine aminohydrolase (EC 3.5.4.3), to separate the enzyme from a mixture containing adenosine deaminase (EC 3.5.4.4).