Spectroscopic studies of the interaction of bichromophoric cyanine dyes with DNA. Effect of ionic strength.

Spectroscopic characteristics of a cyanine dye with two chromophores (biscyanine dye, BCD) in aqueous solutions and effects of NaCl and DNA upon these characteristics have been studied by optical absorption, circular dichroism (CD) and fluorescence spectroscopies. In homogeneous solutions, BCD is characterized by intense optical absorption (epsilon =1.33 x 10(5) M(-1) x cm(-1)) and weak fluorescence (phi(fl)=0.