1-, 2-, and 4-ethynylpyrenes in the structure of twisted intercalating nucleic acids: structure, thermal stability, and fluorescence relationship.

A postsynthetic, on-column Sonogashira reaction was applied on DNA molecules modified by 2- or 4-iodophenylmethylglycerol in the middle of the sequence, to give the corresponding ortho- and para-twisted intercalating nucleic acids (TINA) with 1-, 2-, and 4-ethynylpyrene residues. The convenient synthesis of 2- and 4-ethynylpyrenes started from the hydrogenolysis of pyrene that has had the sulfur removed and separation of 4,5,9,10-tetrahydropyrene and 1,2,3,6,7,8-hexahydropyrene, which were later converted to the final compounds by successive Friedel-Crafts acetylation, aromatization by 2,3-dichloro-5,6-dicyano-1,4-benzoquinone, and a Vilsmeier-Haack-Arnold transformation followed by a Bodendorf fragmentation. Significant alterations in thermal stability of parallel triplexes and antiparallel duplexes were observed upon changing the attachment of ethynylpyrenes from para to ortho in homopyrimidine TINAs. Thus, for para-TINAs the bulge insertion of an intercalator led to high thermal stability of Hoogsteen-type parallel triplexes and duplexes, whereas Watson-Crick-type duplexes were destabilized. In the case of ortho-TINA, both Hoogsteen and Watson-Crick-type complexes were stabilized. Alterations in the thermal stability were highly influenced by the ethynylpyrene isomers used. This also led to TINAs with different changes in fluorescence spectra depending on the secondary structures formed. Stokes shift of approximately 100 nm was detected for pyren-2-ylethynylphenyl derivatives, whereas values for 1- and 4-ethynylpyrenylphenyl conjugates were 10 and 40 nm, respectively. In contrast with para-TINAs, insertion of two ortho-TINAs opposite each other in the duplex as a pseudo-pair resulted in formation of an excimer band at 505 nm for both 1- and 4-ethynylpyrene analogues, which was also accompanied with higher thermal stability.