Naphthalimide derivatives as multifunctional molecules for detecting 5-formylpyrimidine by both PAGE analysis and dot-blot assays.

An azide and hydrazine tethered to a naphthalimide analogue was created to selectively react with 5-formyluracil in one system and fluorogenically label 5-formylcytosine in another system. A biotin group was also introduced by copper-free click chemistry through selective labelling of the aldehyde present in 5-formylpyrimidine.