Perylene attached to DNA through stiff or flexible linker: duplex stability and FRET.

Two fluorescent nucleosides, 5-(perylen-3-ylethynyl)-2'-deoxyuridine and 5-[(perylen-3-yl)methoxypropyn-1-yl]-2'-deoxyuridine, were incorporated into synthetic oligodeoxyribonucleotides and spectral properties of the conjugates and their duplexes were studied.