Synthesis of N-4-butylamine acridone and its use as fluorescent probe for ctDNA

A novel N-4-butylamine acridone (BAA), which is an acridone derivative was synthesized and characterized by IR, MS and 1H NMR. The fluorescent characteristics of BAA was investigated in detail and used as the fluorescent probe for detection of calf thymus DNA (ctDNA). It was found that DNA was able to quench the fluorescence of BAA at 426 nm with the excitation at 254 nm. Under optimal conditions, the corresponding linear response range was from 1.0 to 20.0 mg/L and the limit of detections (LOD) was 0.020 mg/L (defined as S/N = 3). Moreover, the interaction between BAA and ctDNA was investigated by fluorescence, absorption and viscosity measurements. The results suggested that the interaction between BAA and ctDNA is groove binding in nature.