The circular dichroism of complexes of 2,7-di-tertiary-butyl proflavine with DNA

The binding isotherm of 2, 7-di-tert-butyl proflavine on calf thymus DNA has been measured by dialysis equilibrium. The CD spectra of complexes of the dye and DNA have been measured, and the variation of the induced circular dichroism of the dye with the amount of dye bound (r) has been found. The results show that di-tert-butyl proflavine binds to DNA in a completely different manner from proflavine itself, since both the visible and ultraviolet CD spectra of complexes of the two dyes with DNA differ markedly. The conformation of the nucleic acid is not affected by the binding of di-tert-butyl proflavine. It is possible that these results may allow determination, by using CD spectroscopy, of whether molecules intercalate into DNA.