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DNA Binding of a Molecular‐Scale Receptor in the Presence of Zinc( II ) Ions
Author(s) -
Benniston Andrew C.,
Harriman Anthony,
Lawrie Donald J.,
Mehrabi Maryam
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
european journal of organic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.825
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1099-0690
pISSN - 1434-193X
DOI - 10.1002/ejoc.200400813
Subject(s) - chemistry , binding constant , ethidium bromide , pyrene , intercalation (chemistry) , zinc , titration , fluorescence , aqueous solution , thiophene , quenching (fluorescence) , terpyridine , bromide , time resolved spectroscopy , dna , photochemistry , inorganic chemistry , binding site , organic chemistry , metal , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics
The properties of a tritopic artificial biological probe are described. This probe consists of a luminescent pyrene–thiophene unit connected by an ethynylene group to a 2,2':6',2‐terpyridine (terpy) cation binding site. The pyrene unit, as evidenced by fluorescence spectroscopy under illumination at 400 nm, is capable of intercalating into double‐stranded calf‐thymus DNA in H 2 O (buffered, pH = 7.0) at 25 °C. The binding constant K was calculated to be 6.0 × 10 5 M –1 . Titration of zinc( II ) ions in an aqueous (pH = 7.0) solution containing the intercalated probe results in fluorescence quenching which again is a consequence of the zinc( II ) ions binding to the terpy site. The DNA‐bound probe has also been shown to undergo singlet energy transfer to intercalated ethidium bromide with a rate constant of 9.4 × 10 9 s –1 . (© Wiley‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2005)