We have recently shown that a substantial fraction of all Cr-DNA adducts in chromate-exposed cells are represented by ternary complexes involving amino acids or glutathione bridged by Cr-(III) to DNA. The tridentate amino acids such as cysteine, glutamic acid, and histidine were predominantly found cross-linked to DNA. The mechanism by which Cr can cross-link these amino acids to DNA has been modeled by reacting DNA and trivalent and hexavalent chromium with cysteine and histidine. The formation of a Cr(III)-amino acid binary complex was required before Cr(III) reacted with DNA to yield a ternary complex. Cr(III)-pretreated DNA did not bind cysteine or histidine even after prolonged incubations. Reduction of Cr(VI) in the presence of DNA gave rise to an extensive cross-linking of cysteine and histidine. Addition of DNA to Cr(VI) mixtures at the start of reduction or after the reduction was complete had little effect on the level of ternary complexes indicating that Cr(III)-amino acid binary complexes were DNA-attacking species. In order to identify DNA groups involved in the ternary complex formation, pre-formed Cr(III)-histidine complexes were reacted with nucleosides and nucleotide monophosphates followed by separation and analysis of the products. The incubation of the Cr(III)-histidine complexes with nucleotide monophosphates but not with nucleosides gave rise to ternary complexes that contained both histidine and Cr, showing the primary importance of the phosphate group in this reaction. All four DNA nucleotides were capable of the ternary complex formation with Cr(III) and histidine. No apparent base preference in the amino acid cross-linking was also found in the reaction of Cr(III)/cysteine and Cr(VI)/cysteine mixtures with oligonucleotides of base-specific composition.