Oxazolonaphthalimides and their hydroperoxides: photophysical and photobiological properties

Novel oxazolonaphthalimide hydroperoxides 2 and 3 have been designed, synthesized and shown to be very efficient in photocleavage of DNA by the plazmid nicking assay. The absorption and fluorescence properties of these compounds and their relevant intermediates are discussed. An explanation for the higher DNA-cleavage efficiency of these oxazoleconjugated naphthalimide hydroperoxides than the nonsubstituted counterpart 1 is provided.