AIE and UIA-featured fluorescent ligands for G-quadruplex: the impact of linker rigidity between recognition moiety and fluorophore

Abstract

In this study, we designed and synthesized two compounds specifically for the detection of G-quadruplex (G4), a kind of biologically relevant noncanonical nucleic acid structure. One of them, NQ-1, with a rigid linker, showed aggregation-induced emission (AIE) properties, while the other one, NQ-2, with a flexible linker, exhibited unfolding-intramolecular-aggregation-induced emission (UIA) characteristics. Our study demonstrated how adjusting linker rigidity can develop AIE and UIA-based fluorescent probes for G4.