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The anchoring of metal complexes in the major groove of DNA through intercalation has been increasingly useful in the shape-selective design of novel metal complexes which bind DNA with high sequence-selectivity. Toward that goal, direct structural information regarding this intercalative interaction is essential. Phenanthrenequinone diimine (phi) complexes of Rh (III) bind avidly (Kb 1 ≥ 10⁷) to DNA by intercalation in the major groove. Here we report the first ¹H-NMR studies of Δ-rh (phen) ₂phi^ (3+) bound to an oligonucleotide. These studies provide direct structural evidence for specific intercalation by this octahedral complex in the major groove of DNA.
David et al. (Thu,) studied this question.