Photonics of meso-substituted carbocyanine dyes in solutions and in complexes with DNA

[Display omitted] •Increase in fluorescence and triplet yield of dyes K1, K2 with DNA.•Interaction with DNA interferes with the process of photoisomerization of dyes.•Aggregation and cis–trans isomerization make dye-DNA interaction multidimensional.•Docking and DNA melting confirm partial intercalation of dyes in a complex with DNA.•The K2 LOD of dsDNA reaches a level of about 15 ng mL−1. Spectral-fluorescent and photochemical properties (photoisomerization and generation of the triplet state) of meso-substituted cationic carbocyanine dyes, 3,3′-di-(β-hydroxyethyl)-5,5′-dimethoxy-9-ethylthiacarbocyanine iodide (K1) and 3,3′-di-(β-hydroxyethyl)-9-methylthiacarbocyanine iodide (K2), have been studied in solutions and in the presence of DNA. In solutions, on passing from acetonitrile to dioxane, a growth of fluorescence of the dyes is observed due to a shift of the equilibrium of cis/trans isomers toward the fluorescent trans-isomer. Upon flash photolysis of dye solutions in dioxane, the formation and subsequent decay of the cis-photoisomers of the dyes are observed. In aqueous solutions, the interaction with DNA leads to the formation of noncovalent complexes of K1 and K2 with DNA, which is accompanied by a significant increase in the fluorescence intensity. The results of the molecular docking experiments showed the possibility of several types of binding, which was confirmed by the data obtained from other experiments. The effects of temperature and additions of NaCl on the stability of the dye–DNA complexes were studied. The spectral-fluorescent data were used to estimate the binding constants of the dyes with DNA and other characteristics of the dyes that are important for their use as probes. Upon flash photolysis of the dyes in complexes with DNA, photoisomerization is not observed, but the quantum yield of intersystem crossing to the triplet state increases. The decay of the triplet states occurs by a two-exponential law. The rate constants for quenching of the triplet states of the dyes complexed with DNA by oxygen were found to be lower than the expected values for diffusion-controlled quenching (taking into account the spin statistical factor 1/9), which is explained by the steric factor of complexation.