Tuning Exciton Coupling of Merocyanine Nucleoside Dimers by RNA, DNA and GNA Double Helix Conformations

Exciton coupling between two or more chromophores in a specific environment is a key mechanism associated with color tuning and modulation of absorption energies. This concept is well exemplified by natural photosynthetic proteins, and can also be achieved in synthetic nucleic acid nanostructures. Here we report the coupling of barbituric acid merocyanine (BAM) nucleoside analogues and show that exciton coupling can be tuned by the double helix conformation. BAM is a nucleobase mimic that was incorporated in the phosphodiester backbone of RNA, DNA and GNA oligonucleotides. Duplexes with different backbone constitutions and geometries afforded different mutual dye arrangements, leading to distinct optical signatures due to competing modes of chromophore organization via electrostatic, dipolar, π–π-stacking and hydrogen-bonding interactions. The realized supramolecular motifs include hydrogen-bonded BAM–adenine base pairs and antiparallel as well as rotationally stacked BAM dimer aggregates with distinct absorption, CD and fluorescence properties.