Highly Fluorescent Conjugated Pyrenes in Nucleic Acid Probes: (Phenylethynyl)pyrenecarbonyl‐Functionalized Locked Nucleic Acids

In recent years, fluorescently labeled oligonucleotides have become a widely used tool in diagnostics, DNA sequencing, and nanotechnology. The recently developed (phenylethynyl)pyrenes are attractive dyes for nucleic acid labeling, with the advantages of long‐wave emission relative to the parent pyrene, high fluorescence quantum yields, and the ability to form excimers. Herein, the synthesis of six (phenylethynyl)pyrene‐functionalized locked nucleic acid (LNA) monomers M1–M6 and their incorporation into DNA oligomers is described. Multilabeled duplexes display higher thermal stabilities than singly modified analogues. An increase in the number of phenylethynyl substituents attached to the pyrene results in decreased binding affinity towards complementary DNA and RNA and remarkable bathochromic shifts of absorption/emission maxima relative to the parent pyrene fluorochrome. This bathochromic shift leads to the bright fluorescence colors of the probes, which differ drastically from the blue emission of unsubstituted pyrene. The formation of intra‐ and interstrand excimers was observed for duplexes that have monomers M1–M6 in both complementary strands and in numerous single‐stranded probes. If more phenylethynyl groups are inserted, the detected excimer signals become more intense. In addition, (phenylethynyl)pyrenecarbonyl–LNA monomers M4, M5, and M6 proved highly useful for the detection of single mismatches in DNA/RNA targets. Making light work of probes! Bright emission, an increased ability to form excimers, sensitivity to neighboring base pairs, and high fluorescence quantum yields were observed upon the insertion of (phenylethynyl)pyrene–LNAs (LNA=locked nucleic acid) into oligonucleotides (see picture).