Going Platinum to the Tune of a Remarkable Guanine Quadruplex Binder: Solution- and Solid-State Investigations

Guanine quadruplex recognition has gained increasing attention, inspired by the growing awareness of the key roles played by these non-canonical nucleic acid architectures in cellular regulatory processes. We report here the solution and solid-state studies of a novel planar platinum(II) complex that is easily assembled from a simple ligand, and exhibits notable binding affinity for guanine quadruplex structures, while maintaining good selectivity for guanine quadruplex over duplex structures. A crystal structure of this ligand complexed with a telomeric quadruplex confirms double end-capping, with dimerization at the 5' interface.