Patent ID: 7612187

Claim:
A nucleic acid binding compound comprising a backbone, said backbone having attached heterocyclic groups capable of base pairing to natural nucleobases at least one of said heterocyclic groups being one of the naturally occurring nucleobases characterized in that at least one other of said heterocyclic groups is a group of the general formula I wherein W is selected independently from X, Y and Z from the group consisting of N and CR 2 , Z is selected from the group consisting of N and C with the proviso that if Z is N, then X independently from W and Y is selected from the group consisting of N and CR 3 , and Y independently from W and X is selected from the group consisting of N and CR 4 , and the bond between X and Y is a double bond and the bond between Y and Z is a single bond, and if Z is C, then X is NR 33 , and Y is selected from the group consisting of N and CR 4 and the bond between Z and Y is a double bond and the bond between X and Y is a single bond, R 1 , R 2 , R 3 and R 4 are independently selected from the group consisting of —H, -halogen, —OR 13 , —SR 19 , —(C 1 -C 10 )-alkyl, —(C 2 -C 10 )-alkenyl, —(C 2 -C 10 )-alkynyl, —NO 2 , —NR 5 R 6 , -cyano, and —C(═O)R 11 , R 11 is selected from the group consisting of —OH, —(C 1 -C 6 )-alkoxy, —(C 6 -C 22 )-aryloxy, and NHR 12 , R 5 , R 6 , R 12 , R 13 , R 19 and R 33 are selected independently from the group consisting of —H, —(C 1 -C 10 )-alkyl, —(C 2 -C 10 )-alkenyl, —(C 2 -C 10 )-alkinyl, —(C 6 -C 22 )-aryl, a protecting group and a reporter group, D is the position of attachment of the group to the rest of the nucleic acid binding compound, and said alkyl, alkenyl and alkynyl being unsubstituted or substituted by one or more moieties selected from the group consisting of -halogen, —SH, —S—(C 1 -C 6 )-alkyl, —(C 1 -C 6 )-alkoxy, —OH, —NR 5 R 6 , —COR 11 , —NH—CONR 5 R 6 , —NH—CSNR 5 R 6 —[O—(CH 2 ) r ] s —NR 5 R 6 , and r and s are independently of each other an integer of 1 to 18.