There is great interest in design and synthesis of small molecules which selectively target specific genes to inhibit biological functions. Among these studies, chiral DNA recognition has been received much attention because more evidences have shown that conversions of the chirality and diverse conformations of DNA are involved in a series of important life events. In addition, chiral molecular recognition of DNA is important for rational drug design and developing structural probes of DNA conformation. Over the past few decades, considerable attention has focused on the design of DNA binding chiral agents, especially B-DNA, Z-DNA and G-quadruplex DNA binding agents. Rare-earth compounds, due to a unique 4fⁿ electronic configuration, have been widely used as probes in luminescent resonance energy transfer for bioassays and as reagents for diagnosis in magnetic resonance imaging. As chemical nucleases, rare-earth complexes have also shown a high efficiency to hydrolyze DNA and RNA without redox chemistry. Recently, there is great interest in the design and synthesis of chiral rare-earth complexes which selectively target specific DNA. Excitedly, some interesting results have been reported. This review summarizes the current progress in chiral rare-earth complexes binding to nucleic acids and their chiral selectivity.

Contents
1 Introduction
2 Synthesis of rare-earth chiral compounds
3 Recognition of rare-earth chiral compounds to duplex DNA
4 Recognition of rare-earth chiral compounds to single strand DNA and quadruplex DNA
5 Perspective