A new family of fluorescent pyridazinobenzimidazolium cations with DNA binding properties

A series of novel azonia aromatic heterocycles formed by a pyridazinobenzimidazolium system has been synthesized. Spectrofluorimetric and circular dichroism measurements, as well as theoretical simulations for these materials, have shown their interesting fluorescence properties and DNA-binding ability. Stoichiometries and binding constants were obtained by fluorescence and the induced circular dichroism spectra analysis. Moreover, the potential of these compounds for cell staining has been investigated in living HeLa cells by confocal microscopy imaging.