Simple fluorescent pyrimidine analogues detect the presence of DNA abasic sites

An accessible and simple fluorescent dT analogue is demonstrated to effectively probe the DNA microenvironment and display different emission in a duplex versus single-stranded oligonucleotides. The synthesis and photophysical characteristics of a series of simple and responsive thymidine analogues, where a 2'-deoxy-U core is conjugated to aromatic five-membered heterocycles, including furan, thiophene, oxazole, thiazle is described.