Efficient nucleic acid delivery in mammalian and plant cells using precisely engineered cationic perylenes

Nanocarbon materials have emerged as powerful platforms for biological applications, including nucleic acid delivery, bioimaging, and biosensing. While these materials have been explored for imaging and phototherapy, the use of molecularly well-defined nanocarbons with independently tunable charge and hydrophobicity for gene delivery remains largely unexplored. Herein, we report the rational design and synthesis of a new class of cationic perylene tetraesters for efficient nucleic acid delivery. The lead compound, SMZ052, exhibits delivery efficiencies comparable to those of standard commercial reagents across plasmid DNA and siRNA platforms in mammalian cells, and further enables DNA delivery into plant protoplasts as well as hematopoietic stem cells, a cell type that is typically challenging to transfect. These results establish molecular nanocarbons as a versatile and designable platform for gene delivery and highlight their broad potential across biological systems and translational applications.