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Intercalation of tetracationic metalloporphyrins and related compounds into DNA
1School of Engineering, Oxford Polytechnic, U.K.
Abstract:
Electron paramagnetic resonance (e.p.r.) studies of thin DNA-chelate films indicate that both the water soluble planar macrocyclic chelates, cobalt (II) tetra (2,3-N-methylpyridinium) porphyrazine (cobalt (II) TMTPPA), and vanadyl (II) 5,10,15,20-tetra-(4-methylpyridinium) porphyrin (Vo (II) TMTPyP) can bind to calf thymus DNA intercalatively. The intercalation of cobalt (II) porphyrazine is in contrast to the binding of cobalt (II) porphyrin, which is known to bind nonintercalatively. Five-coordinate cobalt (II) porphyrazine is sufficiently slim, even with its single out-of-plane ligand, to permit significant intercalative binding. Vanadyl (II) porphyrin intercalates into calf thymus DNA, but not as readily as cobalt (II) porphyrazine.
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