An assay based on photoinduced reaction and subsequent cleavage of duplex DNA containing a bromodeoxyuridine (U-Br) residue and an abasic site was developed to screen aromatic amines for their ability to initiate charge transfer by reductive electron donation. Two candidates, N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,5-diaminonaphthalene (TMDN) and 1,5-diaminonaphthalene (DAN), expressed the desired activity, and an oligodeoxynucleotide-TMDN conjugate was subsequently prepared to identify additional variables affecting the efficiency of electron injection and transfer into DNA. This system demonstrated only mild sensitivity to molecular oxygen but was strongly inhibited by high concentrations of 2-mercaptoethanol. The nucleobase counter to the attached TMDN strongly modulated charge transfer as evident by a 60-fold decrease in reduction of the distal U-Br when the counterbase A was substituted for C. An inverse relationship between this reduction and quenching of TMDN fluorescence by the counterbase was also discovered and is consistent with a competition between radical recombination and electron migration away from the initial site of its injection into DNA.