The modified nucleosides 5-pyrenyl-2′-deoxyuridine (1) and 8-pyrenyl-2′-deoxyguanosine (2) were synthesized via palladium-catalyzed Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of pyren-1-yl boronic acid (3) to either 5-iodo-2′-deoxyuridine (4), or 8-bromo-2′-deoxyguanosine (7), respectively. No protecting groups for the hydroxy and amino functions of the nucleoside are needed during the preparation. Both pyrene derivatives are suitable nucleoside models for the spectrosopic investigation of reductive electron transfer (in 1), or oxidative hole transfer (in 2).