Mono and Trimethine Cyanines Cyan 40 and Cyan 2 as Probes for Highly Selective Fluorescent Detection of Non-canonical DNA Structures

Two of earlier reported dsDNA sensitive cyanine dyes??monomethine Cyan 40 and meso-substituted trimethine Cyan 2 were studied for their ability to interact with non-canonical DNA conformations. These dyes were characterized by spectral-luminescent methods in the presence of G-quadruplex, triplex and dsDNA motifs. We have demonstrated that Cyan 2 binds strongly and preferentially to triple- and quadruple-stranded DNA forms that results in a strong enhancement of the dye fluorescence, as compared to dsDNA, while Cyan 40 form fluorescent complexes preferentially only with the triplex form. Highly fluorescent complexes of Cyan 2 with DNA triplexes and G-quadruplexes and Cyan 40 with DNA triplexes are very stable and do not dissociate during gel electrophoresis, leading to preferential staining of the above DNA forms in gels. The data presented point to the intercalation mechanism of the Cyan 2 binding to G4-DNA, while the complexes of Cyan 40 and Cyan 2 with triplex DNA are believed to be formed via groove binding mode. The Cyan dyes can provide a highly sensitive method for detection and quantification of non-canonical structures in genome.     

Fraunhofer diffraction of the plane wave by a multilevel (quantized) spiral phase plate

We obtain an analytical expression in the form of a finite sum of plane waves that describes the paraxial scalar Fraunhofer diffraction of a limited plane wave by a multilevel (quantized) spiral phase plate (SPP) bounded by a polygonal aperture. For several topological charges of the SPP we numerically obtain the minimal number of SPP sectors for which the RMS between the Fraunhofer diffraction patterns for multilevel and continuous SPP does not exceed 2%.     

Crystal structures of dioxonium hexafluorotantalate and dioxonium hexafluoroniobate complexes with tetrabenzo-30-crown-10

Two isostructural complexes of dioxonium [H₅O₂]⁺ with tetrabenzo-30-crown-10 of the compositions [(tetrabenzo-30-crown-10 · H₅O₂)][TaF₆] (I) and [(tetrabenzo-30-crown-10 · H₅O₂)][NbF₆] (II) are studied using X-ray diffraction. The complexes crystallize in the monoclinic crystal system (space group C2/c, Z = 4). The unit cell parameters of these compounds are as follows: a = 15.6583(12) Å, b = 15.2259(13) Å, c = 16.4473(13) Å, and β = 99.398(6)° for complex I and a = 15.7117(12) Å, b = 15.2785(15) Å, c = 16.5247(15) Å, and β = 99.398(7)° for complex II. These complexes belong to the ionic type. The dioxonium cation [H₅O₂]⁺ in the form of the two-unit cluster [H₃O · H₂O]⁺ is stabilized by the strong hydrogen bond OH?O [O?O, 2.353(4) Å] and encapsulated by the crown ether. Each oxygen atom of the dioxonium cation also forms two oxygen bonds O?O(crown). The crown ether adopts an unusual two-level (pocket-like) conformation, which provides a complete encapsulation of the oxonium associate. The interaction of the cationic complex with the anion in the crystal occurs through contacts of the C-H?F type.