Patent ID: 7799912

Claim:
A bifunctional compound, comprising a intercalating unit (I) that is capable of intercalating between nucleobases (B) of double strand nucleic acids and an active detection unit (AD) that is capable of emitting a detectable signal, characterized in that said active detection unit (AD) is selected from amongst chemical entities having a structure such as to interact electronically with said intercalating unit (I) in such a way that, during oxidation, the reduction-oxidation potential (EI+/I) of the semicouple I+/I defined by said intercalating unit (I) is lower than the reduction-oxidation potential (EB+/B) of the semicouple B+/B defined by said nucleobases (B), and in such a way that, during reduction, the reduction-oxidation potential (EI/I) of the semicouple I/I− defined by said intercalating unit (I) is higher than the reduction-oxidation potential (EB/B−) of the semicouple B/B− defined by said nucleobases (B), wherein the bifunctional compound comprises a spacer unit (S) set between said intercalating unit (I) and said active detection unit (AD) and said spacer unit (S) is an aliphatic chain substituted with derivatives of para-xylene.