Microenvironment probe

Twisted intramolecular charge transfer (T1CT) probes (structures (25) to (28)) constitute another class of microenvironment probes. As their name indicates, these dyes also form charge transfer complexes in the excited state. However, the detailed mechanism of deactivation of these states is different from that involved in the case of ANS or TNS discussed above. 

Talley C E and Dunn R C 1999 Single molecules as probes of lipid membrane microenvironments J. Chem. Phys. B 103 10 214-20... 

A merocyanine dye, l-ethyl-4-(2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethenyl)pyridinium bromide (M-Mc, 2), exhibits a large spectral change according to the acid-base equilibrium [40, 41]. The equilibrium is affected by the local electrostatic potential and the polarity of the microenvironment around the dye. Hence, this dye is useful as a sensitive optical probe for the interfacial potential and polarity when it is covalently attached to the polyelectrolyte backbone. 

Dendritic hosts can be used in aqueous solution to encapsulate water-soluble fluorescent probes. Changes in the photophysical properties of these encapsulated probes are useful to understand the properties of the microenvironment created by the dendritic interior. For example, adamantyl-terminated poly(pro-pylene amine) dendrimers from the first to the fifth generation (36 represents the third generation) can be dissolved in water at pH<7 in the presence of -cyclodextrin because of encapsulation of the hydrophobic adamantyl residue inside the /1-cyclodextrin cavity and the presence of protonated tertiary amine units inside the dendrimer [72]. Under these experimental conditions, 8-anifi-... 

Solvatochromic probes have been used for a variety of applications like the study polarity of pure and mixed solvents [99], and the retention behavior in reverse-phase liquid chromatography [100] among other applications. Frechet et al. used 4-(N-methylamino)-l-nitrobenzene (p-MANB), as the chromophore, to probe the microenvironment of polyaromatic ether based dendrimers [101]. 

Ellison EH, Moodley D, Hime J (2006) Fluorescence study of arene probe microenvironment in the intraparticle void volume of zeolites interfaced with bathing polar solvents. J Phys Chem B 110 4772 1781... 

Fluorescence probes possessing the PyU base 46 selectively emit fluorescence only when the complementary base is adenine. In this case, the chromophore of is extruded to the outside of the duplex because of Watson-Crick base pair formation, and exposed to a highly polar aqueous phase. On the contrary, the duplex containing a PyU/N (N = G, C and T) mismatched base pair shows a structure in which the glycosyl bond of uridine is rotated to the syn conformation. In this conformation, the fluorophore is located at a hydrophobic site of the duplex. The control of base-specific fluorescence emission is based on the polarity change in the microenvironment where the fluorophore locates are dependent on the l>yU/A base-pair formation. 

It is seen that the fluorescence quantum yield and lifetime of G19 gradually decreases with increasing solvent polarity. For example, the insertion of 20% ACN by volume into toluene leads to a decrease of a factor of two. Based on these results we can conclude that G19 is very sensitive to solvent polarity and can be used as an efficient probe to test the polarity of its microenvironment. A reverse trend of the absorption peak at 1 1 mixture of ACN and toluene (50%T in Fig. 22b) corresponds to a change of the sign of due to a transition from a polyene-like structure in nonpolar toluene to a polymethine-like structure in polar ACN. 

Molecular rotors are useful as reporters of their microenvironment, because their fluorescence emission allows to probe TICT formation and solvent interaction. Measurements are possible through steady-state spectroscopy and time-resolved spectroscopy. Three primary effects were identified in Sect. 2, namely, the solvent-dependent reorientation rate, the solvent-dependent quantum yield (which directly links to the reorientation rate), and the solvatochromic shift. Most commonly, molecular rotors exhibit a change in quantum yield as a consequence of nonradia-tive relaxation. Therefore, the fluorophore s quantum yield needs to be determined as accurately as possible. In steady-state spectroscopy, emission intensity can be calibrated with quantum yield standards. Alternatively, relative changes in emission intensity can be used, because the ratio of two intensities is identical to the ratio of the corresponding quantum yields if the fluid optical properties remain constant. For molecular rotors with nonradiative relaxation, the calibrated measurement of the quantum yield allows to approximately compute the rotational relaxation rate kor from the measured quantum yield [Pg.284]

Mechanical and chemical methods for qualitative and quantitative measurement of polymer structure, properties, and their respective processes during interrelation with their environment on a microscopic scale exist. Bosch et al. [83] briefly discuss these techniques and point out that most conventional techniques are destructive because they require sampling, may lack accuracy, and are generally not suited for in situ testing. However, the process of polymerization, that is, the creation of a rigid structure from the initial viscous fluid, is associated with changes in the microenvironment on a molecular scale and can be observed with free-volume probes [83, 84]. 

Law KY (1980) Fluorescence probe for microenvironments Anomalous viscosity dependence of the fluorescence quantum yield of p-N, N-dialkylaminobenzylidenmalononitrile in 1-alkanols. Chem Phys Lett 75(3) 545-549... 

Cser A, Nagy K, Biczok L (2002) Fluorescence lifetime of Nile red as a probe for the hydrogen bonding strength with its microenvironment. Chem Phys Lett 360(5-6) 473-478... 

Another example of fluorescence intensity modulation in cou-marins is the 3-azido substitution that quenches the fluorescence completely. These compounds are used as starting material for the synthesis of fluorescent triazolocoumarins by click chemistry [31], Interestingly, the fluorescence of some coumarins depends strongly on the solvent. This is the case for 7-alkoxycoumarins that have been used as probes for microenvironments [32], 7-hydroxycoumarin that is pH sensitive, and 7-NR2 substituted coumarins such as coumarin 120 whose quantum yield is reduced in nonpolar solvents due to a change in the 3D structure [33],... 

Frechet et al [26] studied the microenvironment in dendritic molecules by covalently attaching a solvatochromic probe namely iV-methylamino-p-... 

The evidence accumulated in the literature suggests that the structure of surfactant adsorbed layers is, in some respects, analogous to that of surfactant micelles. Fluorescence probing techniques - e.g., pyrene and dinaphtylpropane (DNP) fluorescence probes are used to investigate the structure of adsorbed layer of a surfactant - give information on the polarity of the microenvironment in the adsorbed... 

The microenvironment of polysoaps estimated by the use of probes reflects the microenvironment where probes are bound. Strop et al. (1976) synthesized the copolymers involving the probe units [14] and [15] as comonomer, and directly estimated the microenvironments along the polymer chain. In all the... 

The microenvironment of the micellar core inferred from fluorescent probes is said to be similar to some organic media (Turner and Brand, 1968 Cordes and Gitler, 1973). Similar conclusions have been obtained by other spectroscopic means (see previous sections). The active site of an enzyme is usually quite hydrophobic and the number of water molecules at the active site is limited. Therefore, it is very useful to study the behavior of the catalytic groups in organic media in relation to micellar and enzymatic catalysis. 

The above examples show that a very important criterion in the choice of a probe is its sensitivity to a particular property of the microenvironment in which it is located (e.g. polarity, acidity, etc.). On the other hand, insensitivity to the chemical nature of the environment is preferable in some cases (e.g. in fluorescence polarization or energy transfer experiments). Environment-insensitive probes are also better suited to fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry. 

A criticism often aimed at the use of extrinsic fluorescent probes is the possible local perturbation induced by the probe itself on the microenvironment to be probed. There are indeed several cases of systems perturbed by fluorescent probes. However, it should be emphasized that many examples of results consistent with those obtained by other techniques can be found in the literature (transition temperature in lipid bilayer, flexibility of polymer chains, etc.). To minimize the perturbation, attention must be paid to the size and shape of the probe with respect to the probed region. 

In Section 3.4, structural effects were often discussed in conjunction with the nature of the solvent. As emphasized in the introduction to this book, the fluorescence emitted by most molecules is indeed extremely sensitive to their microenvironment (see Figure 1.3), which explains the extensive use of fluorescent probes. The effects of solvent polarity, viscosity and acidity deserves much attention because these effects are the basis of fluorescence probing of these microenvironmental characteristics and so, later chapters of this book are devoted to these aspects. The effects of polarity and viscosity on fluorescence characteristics in fluid media and the relevant applications are presented in Chapters 7 and 8, respectively. The effect of acidity is discussed in Sections 4.5 and 10.2. This section is thus mainly devoted to rigid matrices or very viscous media, and gases. 

Stokes hydrodynamic law. Therefore, the use of this relation is questionable when the size of the moving molecules is comparable to that of the surrounding molecules forming the microenvironment. This point will be discussed in detail in Chapter 8 dealing with the use of fluorescent probes to estimate the fluidity of a medium. 

The aqueous cores of reverse micelles are of particular interest because of their analogy with the water pockets in bioaggregates and the active sites of enzymes. Moreover, enzymes solubilized in reverse micelles can exhibit an enhanced catalytic efficiency. Figure B4.3.1 shows a reverse micelle of bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) in heptane with three naphthalenic fluorescent probes whose excited-state pK values are much lower than the ground-state pK (see Table 4.4) 2-naphthol (NOH), sodium 2-naphthol sulfonate (NSOH), potassium 2-naphthol-6,8-disulfonate (NSOH). The spectra and the rate constants for deprotonation and back-recombination (determined by time-resolved experiments) provide information on the location of the probes and the corresponding ability of their microenvironment to accept a proton , (i) NDSOH is located around the center of the water pool, and at water contents w = [H20]/[A0T] >... 

The dipole moment in the excited state was estimated (by means of Eqs 7.8 and 7.9) to be 31.8 D. The fluorescence maximum is located at 407 nm in n-hexane and 697 nm in acetonitrile. Unfortunately, protic solvents cause complete quenching therefore, this family of molecules cannot be used as polarity probes in protic microenvironments. 

The concept of polarity covers all types of solute-solvent interactions (including hydrogen bonding). Therefore, polarity cannot be characterized by a single parameter. Erroneous interpretation may arise from misunderstandings of basic phenomena. For example, a polarity-dependent probe does not unequivocally indicate a hydrophobic environment whenever a blue-shift of the fluorescence spectrum is observed. It should be emphasized again that solvent (or microenvironment) relaxation should be completed during the lifetime of the excited state for a correct interpretation of the shift in the fluorescence spectrum in terms of polarity. 

We should first emphasize that viscosity is a macroscopic parameter which loses its physical meaning on a molecular scale. Therefore, the term microviscosity should be used with caution, and the term fluidity can be alternatively used to characterize, in a very general way, the effects of viscous drag and cohesion of the probed microenvironment (polymers, micelles, gels, lipid bilayers of vesicles or biological membranes, etc.). 

The design of fluorescent sensors is of major importance because of the high demand in analytical chemistry, clinical biochemistry, medicine, the environment, etc. Numerous chemical and biochemical analytes can be detected by fluorescence methods cations (H+, Li+, Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Al3+, Cd2+, etc.), anions (halide ions, citrates, carboxylates, phosphates, ATP, etc.), neutral molecules (sugars, e.g. glucose, etc.) and gases (O2, CO2, NO, etc.). There is already a wide choice of fluorescent molecular sensors for particular applications and many of them are commercially available. However, there is still a need for sensors with improved selectivity and minimum perturbation of the microenvironment to be probed. Moreover, there is the potential for progress in the development of fluorescent sensors for biochemical analytes (amino acids, coenzymes, carbohydrates, nucleosides, nucleotides, etc.). 

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