| abstract |
A new class of red-emitting, fluorescent [8,9] benzophenoxazine dyes are provided that are useful for staining nucleic acids in a variety of contexts, including in solutions, in electrophoretic gas or other matrices, in blotting experiments and in assays employing intact, live cells. The new dyes are brighter and permeate cells faster than currently available red-emitting live-cell nucleic acid stains. The benzophenoxazine compound of the present invention comprises a benzophenoxazine compound comprising a parent [8,9]benzophenoxazine ring and a cationic chain, said parent [8,9]benzophenoxazine ring having a primary, secondary or tertiary amino substituent at the C3 carbon and an imminium substituent at the C7 carbon, wherein the cationic chain is attached to the C7 imminium nitrogen via a methylene carbon, with the proviso that the benzophenoxazine compound is not 3-dimethylamino-7-[2-(diethylamino)ethyl]-5H-[8,9]benzophenoxazine chloride. |