Studies on the interactions of polymer-anchored copper(II) complexes with tRNA

The binding interactions between tRNA and polyethyleneimine-anchored copper(II) complexes with 1,10-phenanthroline and 2,2′-bipyridine ligands and varying degrees of coordination have been studied using physico-chemical techniques. In both sets of polyethyleneimine-anchored complexes, the complexes with higher degree of coordination bind more strongly to tRNA than those with lower degree of coordination. Binding to tRNA appears to be mainly electrostatic in nature.