The interaction of the putative anticancer alkaloid chelerythrine with tRNA(phe) was characterized by spectroscopy, calorimetry and molecular docking studies. The charged iminium form of chelerythrine binds with tRNA(phe) in a cooperative mode with a binding affinity value of (4.06±0.01)×10(5)M(-1). The neutral alkanolamine form does not bind to tRNA(phe) but in the presence of high concentration of tRNA(phe) this form gets converted to the iminium form and then binds with tRNA(phe). The partial intercalative mode of binding of chelerythrine to the tRNA(phe) was characterized from the steady state anisotropy, iodide ion-induced fluorescence quenching and viscosity measurements. Chelerythrine binding induced conformational perturbations in tRNA(phe) as observed from the circular dichroism spectroscopy. The strong binding was also supported by the ethidium bromide displacement assay. The binding was favoured by both enthalpy and entropy contributions. Although the binding was dependent on the [Na(+)], non-electrostatic forces contributed predominantly to the Gibbs energy change. The negative value of the heat capacity change proposed the involvement of hydrophobic forces in the binding. Molecular docking study was carried out to decipher the details of the recognition of tRNA(phe) by chelerythrine. The study provided insights about the chelerythrine binding pockets on tRNA(phe) and marked the necessary interactions for binding of chelerythrine molecule. Partially intercalative mode of the alkaloid binding was supported by docking studies. In total, docking studies corroborated well with our experiential observations. The structural and thermodynamic results of chelerythrine binding to tRNA(phe) may be helpful to develop new RNA therapeutic agents.