The chemical reactions and pathways resulting in the breakdown of a purine nucleotide, a compound consisting of nucleoside (a purine base linked to a deoxyribose or ribose sugar) esterified with a phosphate group at either the 3' or 5'-hydroxyl group of the sugar. [ https://www.worldcat.org/search?q=bn%3A0198506732 GOC:go_curators ]
Synonyms: purine nucleotide breakdown purine nucleotide degradation purine nucleotide catabolism