Sixteen new asymmetric monomethine cyanine dyes have been synthesized and their spectral characteristics and interaction with double stranded DNA have been investigated. The dyes absorb in the region 453–519nm and have molar absorptivities in the range 37.900–93.100 lM− 1cm− 1. The dyes do not have intrinsic fluorescence, but in the presence of dsDNA they exhibited a significant enhancement in fluorescence. The most pronounced ...