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Monomethine cyanine dyes (MCDs) are widely applied as biomolecular probes and stains in biochemical and biomedical research. This is based on the ability of MCDs to associate with biomolecules (mostly nucleic acids) with significant fluorescent growth. The present review considers the works devoted to the properties of MCDs and the influence of noncovalent interactions with biomacromolecules on their properties, as well as their use as noncovalent probes and stains for various biomacromolecules. The synthesis and photonics (photophysics and photochemistry; in particular, the generation of the triplet state) of MCDs are also considered. Areas and prospects of the practical applications of MCDs in biochemistry and biomedicine are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ultraviolet‐visible (UV‐vis) absorption, flash photolysis, and 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy were used to investigate the mechanism of formation and structure of complexes in the 1',3',3'‐trimethylspiro[2H‐1‐benzopyran‐2,2'‐indoline] (SP, also well known as BIPS) with Al3+ (inorganic salts) in ethanol (EtOH), methanol (MeOH), and in aqueous MeOH solutions. A labile (equilibrium constants ≤ 5000 M−1) complex of SP and Al3+ with broad absorption band in the UV‐vis with λmax = 380 nm appeared promptly in the presence of an excess of Al3+. The slow formation of a stable complex (SC) between Al3+ and two merocyanine (MC) forms of SP with an intensive absorption band at λmax = 430 nm is observed with a yield of 1.0 upon keeping the solutions of these two compounds at constant concentration ratio [Al3+] ≥[SP]/2 in the dark. The rate constants of such SC formation were close to the corresponding rate constant of the transformation of SP into MC in the dark (5.0×10−5‐1×10‐3 s‐1, depending upon the solvent). The photolysis of the SC with visible light (λ > 400 nm) results in the total conversion of the SC into SP. The SC forms promptly after the addition of Al3+ at concentrations of the same order as those of MC. This method allows detection of [Al3+] to concentrations as low as 50 nM. The kinetics and thermodynamic parameters of the SP and MC reactions and of their complex formation with Al3+ are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]