Methyl Substitution Research Articles

Molecular understanding of the interaction of amino acids with sulfuric acid in the presence of water and the atmospheric implication

Amino acids are important components of atmospheric aerosols. Despite the diversity of amino acids structures, however, the role of amino acids with additional non-characteristic functional groups in new particle formation (NPF) has almost remained unexplored. Herein, the interaction of serine (Ser) and threonine (Thr), which feature a hydroxyl group and differ by a methyl-substitution, with sulfuric acid (SA) and up to three water (W) molecules has been investigated at the M06-2X/6-311++G (3df, 3pd) level of theory. The effects of structural differences of amino acids on the structure and properties of clusters were also pointed out. Results show that serine may play more important role in stabilizing sulfuric acid to promote NPF in initial steps compared with threonine, glycine and alanine. Meanwhile, threonine may participate in ion-induced nucleation due to the high dipole moment of (Thr) (SA) isomers. Moreover, the effects of structure differences of amino acids can be seen in several aspects. Firstly, methyl substitution and hydroxyl group of amino acids have great influence on the structure of clusters. Secondly, hydrated (Ser) (SA) and (Tur) (SA) clusters could retain water even at low relative humidity, which may due to the hydroxyl group in serine and threonine. In addition, the Rayleigh light scattering intensities of amino acid-containing clusters are higher than trimethylamine, monoethanolamine and oxalic acid-involved counterparts. The effect of carboxyl group and methyl substitution on optical properties of clusters is also discussed. This study may bring new insight into the role of amino acids with additional non-characteristic functional groups in initial steps of NPF.

Effect of methyl at the 1-phenyl of tetraaryl substituted imidazole boron difluoride complexes: synthesis, characterization, photophysical and electrochemical studies

Two new imidazole-based boron complexes were synthesized and characterized by multinuclear NMR and single crystal X-ray analysis. The photophysical and electrochemical properties of these boron complexes were compared with analogues of reported complexes. SYNOPSIS Synthesis and characterization of two boron compounds (2a and 2b) have been explored. Methyl substitution (meta and ortho) at the 1-phenyl of tetraaryl substituted imidazole boron difluorides have shown slightly distinct photophysical properties in solution.

Antineoplastic activity of linear leucine homodipeptides and their potential mechanisms of action.

Galaxamide is a rare cyclic homopentapeptide composed of three leucines and two N-methyl leucines isolated from marine algae Galaxaura filamentosa. The strong antitumor activity of this compound makes it a promising candidate for tumor therapy. The synthesis of galaxamide, however, is a complex process, and it has poor water solubility. On the basis of its special chemical composition, we designed a series of linear leucine homopeptides. Among seven dipeptide derivatives, five compounds with terminal protection groups and methyl substitution of the hydrogen in the amido group showed remarkable inhibitory effects against various cancer cells. N-tertbutyl-D-leucine-N-methyl-D-leucinebenzyl (A7), the only stereomer condensed by two D-leucines, showed the highest antineoplastic activity. A7-treated cells showed cell cycle arrest and morphological changes typical of cells undergoing apoptosis. The population of Annexin-V positive/propidium iodide-negative cells also increased, indicating the induction of early apoptosis. A7 promoted the cleavage of caspase-9 and caspase-3, as well as increased intracellular Ca levels and decreased the mitochondrial membrane potential. Collectively, certain linear leucine dipeptides derived from cyclic pentapeptide are able to inhibit tumor cell proliferation through cell cycle arrest and apoptosis induction. The N-methyl group in the side chain and the D/L conformation of the amino-acid residue are critical for their activity.

Preparation and mesomorphic properties of 1-methyl-1H-benzimidazole-based compounds

ABSTRACTA series of 1-methyl-1H-benzimidazole-based compounds, 2-(4ʹ-alkoxy-1,1ʹ-biphenyl-4-yl)-1-methyl- 1H-1,3-benzimidazole derivatives (nPPMx-M) with terminal hydrogen, methyl and nitro moieties (coded as nPPMH-M, nPPMM-M and nPPMN-M, respectively), were prepared and their structures were characterised. The compounds display enantiotropic smectic mesophases for hydrogen and methyl terminated compounds (nPPMH-M and nPPMM-M), and enantiotropic nematic mesophases for nitro terminated compounds (nPPMN-M) with short alkoxy chain below than 10 carbon atoms, where the mesophase ranges are 24–72°C and 74–104°C on heating and cooling processes for nPPMH-M, 90–119°C and 110–135°C for nPPMM-M, and 102–129°C and 113–207°C for nPPMN-M, respectively. It is noted that the compounds nPPMx-M exhibit much lower melting points and much wider mesophase range both in heating and cooling than non-1-methyl substituted analogs, which are ascribed to the disruption of hydrogen bonding among the molecules caused by methyl substitution at 1-position of benzimidazole. Meanwhile, among the compounds nPPMx-M, much wider mesophase ranges are obtained for nPPMM-M and nPPMN-M, indicating a much high mesophase stability for the compounds bearing terminal moiety (CH3 and NO2).

Probing DNA Base-Dependent Leaving Group Kinetic Effects on the DNA Polymerase Transition State.

We examine the DNA polymerase β (pol β) transition state (TS) from a leaving group pre-steady-state kinetics perspective by measuring the rate of incorporation of dNTPs and corresponding novel β,γ-CXY-dNTP analogues, including individual β,γ-CHF and -CHCl diastereomers with defined stereochemistry at the bridging carbon, during the formation of right (R) and wrong (W) base pairs. Brønsted plots of log kpol versus p Ka4 of the leaving group bisphosphonic acids are used to interrogate the effects of the base identity, the dNTP analogue leaving group basicity, and the precise configuration of the C-X atom in R and S stereoisomers on the rate-determining step ( kpol). The dNTP analogues provide a range of leaving group basicity and steric properties by virtue of monohalogen, dihalogen, or methyl substitution at the carbon atom bridging the β,γ-bisphosphonate that mimics the natural pyrophosphate leaving group in dNTPs. Brønsted plot relationships with negative slopes are revealed by the data, as was found for the dGTP and dTTP analogues, consistent with a bond-breaking component to the TS energy. However, greater multiplicity was shown in the linear free energy relationship, revealing an unexpected dependence on the nucleotide base for both A and C. Strong base-dependent perturbations that modulate TS relative to ground-state energies are likely to arise from electrostatic effects on catalysis in the pol active site. Deviations from a uniform linear Brønsted plot relationship are discussed in terms of insights gained from structural features of the prechemistry DNA polymerase active site.

Diels-Alder cycloaddition versus ring-opening esterification: A computational study of the mechanism of formation of oxa-norbonene lactones from the reaction of furfuryl alcohol and itaconic anhydride

Abstract The reactions of furfuryl alcohol with itaconic anhydride can proceed via four plausible pathways – two pathways involving initial Diels-Alder cycloaddition followed by lactonization and two pathways involving initial esterification followed by intramolecular Diels-Alder cycloaddition – to afford two distinct norbornene products bearing either a five- or six-membered butyrolactone ring respectively. DFT calculations reported herein show that the first-step Diels-Alder cycloaddition reactions have barriers of 8.5 and 11.8 kcal/mol which are far lower than the barriers of 29.6 and 36.9 kcal/mol for the esterification pathways. The calculated energies for the experimentally observed five- and six membered oxa-norbornene lactone isomers are exergonic with reaction energies of −17.1 and −12.8 kcal/mol respectively. Thermodynamically the five-membered isomer is more stable adduct than the six-membered adduct. Thus the most preferred pathway is the one involving initial [4 + 2] cycloaddition followed by lactonization to form the five-membered butylrolactone ring. Substitution of methyl groups on the carbon bearing the hydroxyl group shows that the substituents do not affects the reaction pathways markedly.

The microwave spectrum and molecular structure of 3,3-difluoro-1,2-epoxypropane and its complex with the argon atom

As a small, chiral molecule with a strong and simple microwave rotational spectrum, 3,3-difluoro-1,2-epoxypropane is a promising candidate as a chiral tag for conversion of enantiomeric analytes into spectroscopically distinct diastereomers via formation of a non-covalently bound complex. The Fourier transform microwave spectra of this species and its complex with the argon atom are obtained from 5.1 to 21.0 GHz, and their structures determined. Not surprisingly, these structures for both the monomer and the argon complex show strong similarities with those previously determined for 3,3,3-trifluoro-1,2-epoxypropane and 3,3,3-trifluoro-1,2-epoxypropane–argon, but are different from those of the analogous propylene oxide species. This suggests that fluoromethyl and methyl substitution affect the bonding in the epoxy moiety and intermolecular interactions in distinctly different ways.

Triel–hydride triel bond between ZX3 (Z = B and Al; X = H and Me) and THMe3 (T = Si, Ge and Sn)

Complexes between THMe3 (T = Si, Ge and Sn) and ZX3 (Z = B and Al; X = H and Me) have been characterized using MP2/aug‐cc‐pVTZ calculations. These complexes are chiefly stabilized by a triel–hydride triel bond with the T–H bond pointing to the π‐hole on the triel atom. The triel–hydride interaction is mainly attributed to the charge transfer from the T–H bond orbital to the empty p orbital of the triel atom. These complexes are very stable with a large interaction energy (>10 kcal mol−1) excluding THMe3···BMe3 (T = Si and Ge), indicating that the sp2‐hydridized triel atom has a strong affinity for the T–H bond. The formation of THMe3···BH3 results in proton transfer, characterized by conversion of orbital interaction and large charge transfer (ca 0.5e). The large deformation is primarily responsible for the abnormally greater interaction energy in THMe3···BH3 (>30 kcal mol−1) than in the AlH3 analogue. Methyl substitution on the triel atom weakens the triel–hydride interaction and causes a larger interaction energy in THMe3···AlMe3 with respect to its BMe3 counterpart. Most of these interactions possess characteristics of covalent bonds. Polarization makes a contribution to the stability of most complexes nearly equivalent to the electrostatic term.

Predicting Octane Number Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy and Artificial Neural Networks

Machine learning algorithms are attracting significant interest for predicting complex chemical phenomenon. In this work, a model to predict research octane number (RON) and motor octane number (MON) of pure hydrocarbons, hydrocarbon-ethanol blends, and gasoline–ethanol blends has been developed using artificial neural networks (ANNs) and molecular parameters from 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. RON and MON of 128 pure hydrocarbons, 123 hydrocarbon–ethanol blends of known composition, and 30 FACE (fuels for advanced combustion engines) gasoline–ethanol blends were utilized as a data set to develop the ANN model. The effect of weight percent of seven functional groups including paraffinic CH3 groups, paraffinic CH2 groups, paraffinic CH groups, olefinic −CH═CH2 groups, naphthenic CH–CH2 groups, aromatic C–CH groups, and ethanolic OH groups on RON and MON was studied. The effect of branching (i.e., methyl substitution), denoted by a parameter termed as branching index (BI), and molecular w...

Steric-Induced Fluorescence via Methyl Substitution in Chalcone Dyes

Chemical research of luminescent dyes can have potential benefits in cell microscopy, optoelectronics and textiles. Luminescent chalcones have been studied extensively for their florescence properties and sensing capabilities, such as halochromism (pH), solvatochromism (polarity), and viscochromism (viscosity). Properties such as viscochromism can be utilized to sense the membrane viscosity in cells. To probe the viscochromic behavior of chalcones, bulky methyl-substituents were incorporated into the design of the chalcone to probe planarity, brightness and fluorescence turn-on based of environmental viscosity. This was achieved via Aldol condensation of aromatic ketones and para-(dimethylamino) benzaldehyde to incorporate a bulky methyl groups at an aromatic or vinyl positions. Synthesis of the derivatives was confirmed by 1H NMR, TLC and IR spectroscopy. Preliminary results indicate the dyes have yellow-green florescence in dichromomethane (Q.Y. ~12%), and aggregation induced emission (AIE) properties. This presentation will discuss the optical properties in solution, future directions and possible applications.

Structure‐Activity Analysis of Bisphenol‐Z Derivatives for Anticancer Activity

Much of the research surrounding bisphenol derivatives focuses on their use as polymers and plasticizers for industry. Research has demonstrated that bisphenol‐A (BPA) adversely affects humans via endocrine disruption through hormonal modulation. Despite the recent explosion in BPA research, little effort has been devoted to researching the biological activities of other bisphenol derivatives, including bisphenol‐Z (BPZ). Initial screening of BPZ revealed moderate in vitro anticancer activity against four diverse human cancer cell lines (A375 malignant melanoma, A‐172 glioblastoma, HT‐29 colorectal adenocarcinoma, and MCF7 breast adenocarcinoma) with IC50 values of approximately 65 μM following 24 hour treatments. In an attempt to enhance the activity of BPZ, seven analogs with varying degrees of polarity, lipophilicity, and sterics on the cyclohexane ring were synthesized. Screening of these analogs revealed that polar substitutions resulted in a loss of activity, while a simple methyl substitution had similar activity to BPZ. Anticancer activity was enhanced relative to BPZ following substitution with an ethyl, isopropyl, or N‐palmitoyl group at the 4‐ position. The most active compounds from this structure‐activity study were the N‐palmitoyl (LS4) and isopropyl (LS6) derivatives with 24 hour IC50 values ranging from 25 to 53 μM and 33 to 42 μM respectively.Given the increased activity of LS4 and LS6, additional studies were performed including a trypan blue exclusion assay and a Caspase‐Glo® 3/7 assay. The results of these studies revealed exclusion of trypan blue at supra‐IC50 concentrations six hours after treatments, suggestive of a non‐necrotic mechanism of death. To determine if caspase‐dependent apoptosis was involved, we performed a Caspase‐Glo® 3/7 assay. Functional screening of executioner caspase‐3 and ‐7 revealed significant increases in activity following a 12 hour treatment with LS4 in all cells lines. This effect was least evident in the MCF7 cells, potentially due to a mutation wherein these cells lack expression of caspase‐3. In contrast, LS6 failed to activate executioner caspases‐3 and ‐7 in these same cell lines.In conclusion, this structure‐activity study revealed that nonpolar substitution at the 4‐ position of BPZ enhanced anticancer activity. Additionally, membrane integrity remained intact following exposure to LS4 and LS6. While LS4 activated executioner caspases‐3/7, LS6 failed to activate this hallmark pathway of apoptotic death. Further investigations are ongoing to elucidate the mechanisms of cell death, identify putative cellular targets, and determine potential selectivity against normal human cell lines.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Intricate Conformational Tunneling in Carbonic Acid Monomethyl Ester.

Disentangling internal and external effects is a key requirement for understanding conformational tunneling processes. Here we report the s- trans/ s- cis tunneling rotamerization of carbonic acid monomethyl ester (1) under matrix isolation conditions and make comparisons to its parent carbonic acid (3). The observed tunneling rate of 1 is temperature-independent in the 3-20 K range and accelerates when using argon instead of neon as the matrix material. The methyl group increases the effective half life (τeff) of the energetically disfavored s- trans-conformer from 3-5 h for 3 to 11-13 h for 1. Methyl group deuteration slows the rotamerization further (τeff ≈ 35 h). CCSD(T)/cc-pVQZ//MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ computations of the tunneling probability suggest that the rate should be almost unaffected by methyl substitution or its deuteration. Thus the observed relative rates are puzzling, and they disagree with previous explanations involving fast vibrational relaxation after the tunneling event facilitated by the alkyl rotor.

Viscoelastic diamine surfactant for stable carbon dioxide/water foams over a wide range in salinity and temperature

HypothesisThe viscosity and stability of CO2/water foams at elevated temperature can be increased significantly with highly viscoelastic aqueous lamellae. The slow thinning of these viscoelastic lamellae leads to greater foam stability upon slowing down Ostwald ripening and coalescence. In the aqueous phase, the viscoelasticity may be increased by increasing the surfactant tail length to form more entangled micelles even at high temperatures and salinity. ExperimentsSystematic measurements of the steady state shear viscosity of aqueous solutions of the diamine surfactant (C16-18N(CH3)C3N(CH3)2) were conducted at varying surfactant concentrations and salinity to determine the parameters for formation of entangled wormlike micelles. The apparent viscosity and stability of CO2/water foams were compared for systems with viscoelastic entangled micellar aqueous phases relative to those with much less viscous spherical micelles. FindingsWe demonstrated for the first time stable CO2/water foams at temperatures up to 120 °C and CO2 volumetric fractions up to 0.98 with a single diamine surfactant, C16-18N(CH3)C3N(CH3)2. The foam stability was increased by increasing the packing parameter of the surfactant with a long tail and methyl substitution on the amine to form entangled viscoelastic wormlike micelles in the aqueous phase. The foam was more viscous and stable compared to foams with spherical micelles in the aqueous lamellae as seen with C12-14N(EO)2 and C16-18N(EO)C3N(EO)2.

Theoretical Investigation of the Gas-Phase SN2 Reactions of Anionic and Neutral Nucleophiles with Chloramines.

The SN2 reactions at nitrogen center (SN2@N) play a significant role in organic synthesis, carcinogenesis, and the formation of some environmentally toxic compounds. However, the SN2@N reactions specifically for neutral compounds as nucleophiles are less known. In this work, reactions of dimethylamine (DMA) and F- with NH2Cl were investigated as model reactions to validate an accurate functional from 24 DFT functionals by comparing with the CCSD(T) reference data. M06-2X functional was found to perform best and applied to systematically explore the trends in reactivity for halides (F- and Cl-) and simple amines toward the substrates NH2Cl and NHCl2 (SN2@N) as well as CH3Cl and CH2Cl2 (SN2@C). The computational results show that the backside inversion channel dominates most the SN2@N reactions except for the case of F- + NHCl2, which reacts preferentially via proton transfer. The overall activation free energies (Δ G‡) of the inversion channel for the SN2 reactions of F- and Cl- with chloramines are negative, whereas those for amines as nucleophiles are around 30-44 kcal/mol. The SN2@N reactions for all the nucleophiles investigated here are faster than the corresponding SN2@C. Moreover, amines react faster when they have a higher extent of methyl substitution. Additionally, the energy gap between the HOMO of nucleophile and LUMO of substrate generally correlates well with Δ G‡ of the corresponding SN2 reactions, which is consistent with previous results.

The structural and spectroscopic investigation of 2-chloro-3-methylquinoline by DFT method and UV–Vis, NMR and vibrational spectral techniques combined with molecular docking analysis

This study comprises the structural and spectroscopic evaluation of a quinoline derivative, 2-chloro-3-methylquinoline (2Cl3MQ), via UV–Vis, 1H and 13C NMR, FT-IR and FT-Raman techniques experimentally, theoretically with DFT and TD-DFT quantum chemical calculations at B3LYP/6–311++G (d, p) level of theory, and investigation of the in silico pharmaceutical potent of 2Cl3MQ in comparison to 2ClnMQ (n = 3,4,7,8,9,10) substituted quinolines. The experimental measurements were recorded as follows; UV–vis spectra were obtained in the range of 200–400 nm in the water and ethanol solvents. 1H and 13C NMR spectra were recorded in CDCl3. Vibrational spectra were obtained in the region of 4000–400 cm−1 and 3500–10 cm−1 for FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra, respectively. Structural and spectroscopic features obtained through theoretical evaluations include: electrostatic features, atomic charges and molecular electrostatic potential surface, the frontier molecular orbital characteristics, the density of states and their overlapping nature, the electronic transition properties, thermodynamical and nonlinear optical characteristics, and predicted UV–Vis, 1H and 13C NMR, FT-IR and FT-Raman spectra. Ligand-enzyme interactions of 2ClnMQ (n = 3,4,7,8,9,10) substituted quinolines with Malate Synthase from Mycobacterium Tuberculosis (MtbMS) were investigated via molecular docking. The role of position of methyl substitution on the inhibitor character of the ligands was discussed on the basis of noncovalent interaction profiles.

Synthesis of 1,1'-Diarylethanes and Related Systems by Displacement of Trichloroacetimidates with Trimethylaluminum.

Benzylic trichloroacetimidates are readily displaced by trimethylaluminum under Lewis acid promoted conditions to provide the corresponding methyl substitution product. This method is a convenient way to access 1,1'-diarylethanes and related systems, which play a significant role in medicinal chemistry, with a number of systems owing their biological activity to this functionality. Most benzylic substrates undergo ready displacement, with electron deficient systems being the exception. The use of an enantiopure imidate showed significant racemization, implicating the formation of a cationic intermediate.

Structural studies on Ba(II) adducts of the cytosine nucleobase and its derivative 1-Methylcytosine

The use of the cytosine nucleobase or its 1-Methylcytosine derivative as ligands toward barium(II) cations led to the formation of three compounds, {[Ba(1-Mecyt)(H2O)X2]}n [X=Cl (1), Br (2)], and {[Ba(cyt)2(H2O)(ClO4)2]}n (3). Depending on the ligand and the counterion employed, 1–3 exhibit different architectures, which serve as a playground to study how the methyl substitution, together with the nature of the counterion are both significant in the self-assembling process of such species. The effect of the nature and size of the alkaline-earth metal ion on the final structural motif is also evident when comparing these structures with parent complexes of the Ca(II) ion.

Effect of Methyl Substitution on the N-H···O Interaction in Complexes of Pyrrole with Water, Methanol, and Dimethyl Ether: Matrix Isolation Infrared Spectroscopy and ab Initio Computational Studies.

Hydrogen-bonded interactions of pyrrole with water and methanol have been studied using matrix isolation infrared spectroscopy and compared with the calculation performed on dimethyl ether. Computations carried out at MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory yielded two minima for the pyrrole-water and pyrrole-methanol complexes. The global and local minima correspond to the N-H···O and O-H···π complexes, respectively, where the N-H group of pyrrole interacts with oxygen of water/methanol and O-H of water and methanol interacts with the π cloud of pyrrole. Computations performed on the pyrrole-dimethyl ether gave only N-H···O type complex. From the experimental vibrational wavenumber shifts in the N-H stretching and N-H bending modes of pyrrole, as well as in the O-H stretching modes of water and methanol, the 1:1 N-H···O complexes were discerned. The strength of the N-H···O hydrogen bond and the corresponding shift in the N-H stretching vibrational wavenumbers increases in the order pyrrole-water < pyrrole-methanol < pyrrole-dimethyl ether, where a proton is successively replaced by a methyl group. Apart from the 1:1 complexes, higher clusters of 2:1 and 1:2 pyrrole-water and pyrrole-methanol complexes were also generated in N2 matrix. Atoms in molecules and natural bond orbital analyses were carried out at the MP2/aug-cc-pVDZ level to understand the nature of interaction in the 1:1 pyrrole-water, pyrrole-methanol and pyrrole-dimethyl ether complexes.

Effect of methyl substitution on the diketopyrrolopyrrole-based semiconducting polymers for organic thin film transistors

Abstract Two semiconducting polymers, poly[2,5-bis(5-octylpentadecyl)-3,6-di(thiophen-2-yl)pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4(2H,5H)-dione-selenophene] (PDPP-Se) and poly[3,6-bis(4-methylthiophen-2-yl)-2,5-bis(5-octylpentadecyl)pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4(2H,5H)-dione-selenophene] (PMDPP-Se) were designed and synthesized. These polymers contain diketopyrrolopyrrole (DPP) and methyl-substituted DPP (MDPP) units as the acceptor building blocks, and selenophene as a counter donor unit. The introduction of methyl groups on the thiophene units flanked by the DPP core substantially affected its optical, electrochemical, and charge-transporting properties. Experimental results revealed that the introduction of electron-donating methyl groups raised the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy levels of PMDPP-Se. Interestingly, the PMDPP-Se showed better co-planarity with the adjacent aromatic groups compared to PDPP-Se. Furthermore, the methyl-substituted polymer showed a transition behavior in its thin film morphology and crystal orientation with an increase in the annealing temperature, which induced an M-shape dependence of the field-effect mobility on the annealing temperature. PMDPP-Se recorded a maximum hole mobility μh = 1.31 cm2 V−1 s−1 at optimum phase, which is higher than that of PDPP-Se (μh = 0.86 cm2 V−1 s−1).

How Does Nanoconfinement within a Reverse Micelle Influence the Interaction of Phenazinium-Based Photosensitizers with DNA?

The major focus of the present work lies in exploring the influence of nanoconfinement within aerosol-OT (AOT) reverse micelles on the binding interaction of two phenazinium-based photosensitizers, namely, phenosafranin (PSF) and safranin-O (SO), with the DNA duplex. Circular dichroism and dynamic light-scattering studies reveal the condensation of DNA within the reverse micellar interior (transformation of the B-form of native DNA to ψ-form). Our results unveil a remarkable effect of the degree of hydration of the reverse micellar core on the stability of the stacking interaction (intercalation) of the drugs (PSF and SO) into DNA; increasing size of the water nanopool (that is, w0) accompanies decreasing curvature of the DNA duplex structure with the consequent effect of increasing stabilization of the drug:DNA intercalation. The marked differences in the dynamical aspects of the interaction scenario following encapsulation within the reverse micellar core and the subsequent dependence on the size of the water nanopool are also meticulously explored. The differential degrees of steric interactions offered by the drug molecules (presence of methyl substitutions on the planar phenazinium ring in SO) are also found to affect the extent of intercalation of the drugs to DNA. In this context, it is imperative to state that the water pool of the reverse micellar core is often argued to approach bulk-like properties of water with increasing micellar size (typically w0 ≥ 10), so that deviation from the bulk water properties is likely to be minimized in large reverse micelles (w0 ≥ 10). On the contrary, our results (particularly quantitative elucidation of micropolarity and dynamical aspects of the interaction) explicitly demonstrate that the bulk-like behavior of the nanoconfined water is not truly achieved even in large reverse micelles.