Cooperative binding of ferrocenylnaphthalene diimide carrying β-cyclodextrin converts double-stranded DNA to a rod-like structure.

Ferrocenylnaphthalene diimide carrying β-cyclodextrin (β-CD), 1, intercalated into double-stranded DNA with a binding affinity of K = (6.6 ± 0.8) × 10(4) M(-1) and a binding site size of n = 4, with a high positive cooperative parameter of ω = 14. β-CD and ferrocene moieties of the compound contributed to the formation of the intermolecular inclusion complex on DNA. Binding of 1 resulted in conversion of the DNA duplex to a rod-like form, which was cleaved upon adamantylamine addition.