Genomic Stilbenes
Desmond Murray (Chemistry)
Genomic Stilbenes as Molecular Probes for Nucleic Acids
This year our research has lead to very promising results and significant progress in ‘spin-off’ projects based on our original AU FRG funded proposal. We continued the successful use of our stilbenes as selective sensors for copper rather than as molecular probes for DNA. This has facilitated the broader inclusion of students, beyond Honors and URS, into this research project. One of the major themes in all these projects is the design and synthesis of bidentate stilbene sensors. This grows out of the very promising results we continue to obtain from Erica Evan’s (a biology student) work with the monodentate cyanostilbene model fluorescent sensor for copper. It is well-established in the scientific literature that the denticity of ligands affect their binding strengths and that bidentate ligands show by and large larger binding constants.