A Negative Deviation from Stern–Volmer Equation in Fluorescence Quenching

A negative deviation from the normal Stern-Volmer equation shown in the fluorescence quenching of doxorubicin by adenosine 5' monophosphate is interpreted in terms of doxorubicin exists in two different conformers in the ground state. An estimate of the Stem-Volmer constant for the excited-state quenching is about 218 M(-1). The fluorescence decay of free doxorubicin is a bi-exponential in polar protic and polar aprotic solvents. In the presence of adenosine 5' monophosphate, doxorubicin shows a tri-exponential decay in water.     

Luminescent Detection of ATP in Aqueous Solution Using Positively Charged CdSe–ZnS Quantum Dots

Commercially available CdSe–ZnS Quantum Dots (QDs) have been modified by exchanging the hydrophobic surface ligands with (2-mercaptoethyl)-trimethylammonium chloride. The resulting water soluble conjugate was titrated with solutions of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate, adenosine monophosphate, guanosine triphosphate (GTP), guanosine diphosphate and guanosine monophosphate in 0.01 M 4-(2-hydroxyethyl)-1-piperazineethanesulfonic acid buffer (pH 7.4). A strong fluorescence quench of about 80% was observed for ATP, a quench of 25% was observed for GTP while the others had virtually no effect. The quenching effect of ATP and GTP was attributed to the high negative charge density associated with these substrate’s resulting in a strong attraction to the QD surface enabling them to engage in electron transfer with the excited QD. The lack of fluorescence quenching associated with the other nucleotides was most likely due to their reduced charge density resulting in a lower affinity for the QD surface.     

Synthesis and characterization of titania-based monodisperse fluorescent europium nanoparticles for biolabeling

Inorganic-organic hybrid titania-based nanoparticles covalently bound to a fluorescent Eu³⁺ chelate of 4,4′-bis(1′′,1′′,1′′,2′′,2′′,3′′,3′′-heptafluoro-4′′,6′′-hexanedion-6′′-yl)chlorosulfo-o-terphenyl (BHHCT-Eu³⁺) were synthesized by a sol-gel technique. A conjugate of BHHCT with 3-[2-(2-aminoethylamino) ethylamino]propyl-trimethoxysilane (APTS) was used as a precursor for the nanoparticle preparation and monodisperse nanoparticles consisting of titania network and silica sub-network covalently bound to the Eu³⁺ chelate were prepared by the copolymerization of APTS-BHHCT conjugate, titanium tetraisopropoxide (TTIP) and free APTS in EuCl₃ water-alcohol solution. The effects of reaction conditions on size and fluorescence lifetime of the nanoparticles were investigated. The characterizations by transmission electron microscopy and fluorometric methods indicate that the nanoparticles are near spherical and strongly fluorescent having a fluorescence quantum yield of 11.6% and a long fluorescence lifetime of ∼0.4 ms. The direct-introduced amino groups on the nanoparticle's surface by using free APTS in nanoparticle preparation facilitated the biolabeling process of the nanoparticles. The nanoparticle-labeled streptavidin (SA) was prepared and used in a sandwich-type time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TR-FIA) of human prostate-specific antigen (PSA) by using a 96-well microtiter plate as the solid phase carrier. The method gives a detection limit of 66 pg/ml for the PSA assay.     

Fluorescence quenching studies of conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene in the presence of TNT

We report fluorescence quenching of the conjugated polymer poly[2-methoxy-5-(3′,7′-dimethyloctyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene (MDMO-PPV) in the presence of nitrated explosives, such as, 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). It is found that the conjugated polymer changes color from orange to brownish black when sprayed on traces of TNT within a few seconds. Fluorescence quenching of the conjugated polymer in the presence of TNT is also studied by absorption and emission spectroscopy. The conjugated polymer is highly selective for sensing TNT in daylight and ambient conditions.     

Biphenyl-type sensing system in proton-rich environment by fluorescence and quantum-chemical calculations

Biphenyl derivative N-allyl-N′-(4′-nitro[1,1′-biphenyl]-4-yl)thiourea (BP1) was synthesized as a functional fluorescent sensor for protons and their photophysical properties were studied. The influence of environment protonation on photophysical properties of the biphenyls in solutions was investigated using UV absorption, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Semi-empirical and DFT calculations and optimization of the molecular structure of the biphenyl derivatives in vacuum, in polar solvents and in a proton-rich environment were conducted using the HyperChem, Amsol and Gaussian3 software package. Fluorescence quenching with addition of acidic acid was observed and the Stern-Volmer quenching rate constant was about 3.0×10⁹ M⁻¹ s⁻¹. Intermolecular hydrogen bonds formations by the protons with the sulphur being substituted to the biphenyls generate charge movement and strong increase (×5) of the dipole moment of the fluorophore.     

Laser-induced fluorescence decays of polyethylene films

The fluorescence lifetime of photo-oxidative emission at 360 nm becomes shorter when stabilizer is added to polyethylene film. A broad emission band at 450 nm is attributed to the emission from a charge transfer complex. The preliminary results show that the quenching of photo-oxidative emission and the fluorescence intensity decay can be used to evaluate the extent of photo-stability of polyethylene films.     

Quantitative Time-Resolved Fluorescence Spectrum of the Cortical Sarcoma and the Adjacent Normal Tissue

The difference in time-resolved fluorescence spectrum between the cortical sarcoma and the adjacent normal tissue was studied in both experimental and theoretical ways. The Clinical data were obtained in vivo using a time-resolved fluorescence spectrometer employing a single fiber-optic probe for excitation and detection. Tissue was modeled as s-180 sarcoma tumor surrounded with normal muscle and was mediated by the Palladium-porphyrin photosensitizer (Pd-TCPP). The emitted fluorescence was considered as arising from the tumor tissue or the normal muscle, due to the presence of the photosensitizer. A computational code which could simulating time-resolved fluorescence emission was presented and applied to comparing fluorescence decay of photosensitizer in different stages of tumor growth. In this code the different stages of the tumor was modeled through changing the time τ, the delay of the fluorescence photon emission and z _max, the thickness of the tumor. It was found in the in vivo experiment that the fluorescence from tumor tissue decayed more quickly than from the adjacent normal muscle. For the ten rats in the first experiment day, the mean decay constant of tumor T _s and normal tissue T _n were 554 and 526 μs, respectively. And T _s increased with the tumor growth, from 554 μs in the first day to 634 μs in the eighth day while T _s kept steady. It was believed that the more adequate oxygen supplied by the normal tissue can more effectively quench the fluorescence and in the normal tissue the photosensitizer lifetime is smaller. As a result the simulated time-resolved fluorescence spectrum of normal tissue showed more quickly decay. And the thickness of the tumor can also delay the fluorescence decay. Both the experimental and simulated results indicated that the germination of the tumor would increase the decay constant of the time-resolved fluorescence spectrum. So decay constant of the tumor tissue spectrum should be larger than that of adjacent normal tissue for the reason of hypoxia and overgrouth. This fact could be of use in the tumor diagnoses.     

Toward an understanding of the fluorescence intensity changes observed on fluorescein 5′-Isothiocyanate-Na+,K+-ATPase

The fluorescence emission intensity between the Na⁺, and the K⁺ complex of Na⁺,K⁺-ATPase, labeled with fluorescein 5-isothiocyanate (FITC), differs by 30 to 40%. Experimental studies are carried out to elucidate the physical reasons which account this intensity difference. The dissociation constant of protolysis of the covalently bound FITC and its fluorescence decay times are determined in media of different ionic compositions and are compared with the corresponding properties of a synthetic model compound. The fluorophore bound to the protein is characterized by two decay times in the nanosecond range; the model compound, by a single one. The static fluorescence intensity changes are discussed on the basis of these results.This is a peer-reviewed conference proceeding article from the Third Conference on Methods and Applications of Fluorescence Spectroscopy, Prague, Czech Republic, October 18–21, 1993.     

Spectrophotometric Characteristics of New Pyridylindolizine Derivatives Solutions

Three new pyridylindolizine derivatives, 1, 2, 3-tricarbometoxi-7-(4-pyridyl)-pyrrolo[1, 2-a]pyridine (I), 1,2-dicarboethoxy-3-(4-bromobenzoyl)-7-(4-pyridyl)-pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyridine (II) and its isomer 1,2-dicarboethoxy-3- (4-bromobenzoyl) -5- (2-pyridyl) -pyrrolo[1, 2-a]pyridine (III) have been investigated in different solutions by UV-VIS absorption, steady-state, and time-resolved fluorescence methods. The effects of the substituent and solvent on the spectroscopic properties have been demonstrated. The fluorescence decay data could be fitted to a single-exponential function. The lifetime values are higher in protic polar than in aprotic apolar solvents for compound I. In the case of compounds II and III the fluorescence intensities and lifetimes are very low, with the exception of III in aprotic solvents. The absorption and fluorescence properties of the compounds showed a solvent dependence.     

Fluorescence Recovery Under Decaying Photobleaching Irradiation: Concept and Experiment

A novel modification of photobleaching method for measurement of lateral diffusion is developed. In this approach fluorescence recovery kinetics is measured under decaying photobleaching irradiation, termed as fluorescence recovery under decaying photobleaching (FRDP). The time evolution of fluorescence intensity normalized to input irradiation starts from the photobleaching kinetics and transforms into the kinetics of fluorescence recovery at a later stage resulting in appearance of minimum. The analytical solution for the kinetics of fluorescence for Gaussian lineshape of laser beam and hyperbolic decay of irradiation in the first order approximation on bleaching rate was obtained. The accuracy of the analytical function was evaluated with exact numerical solution computed with finite differentiates method. The FRDP method was successfully applied to fluorescein solution in the glycerol/water mixture (80%) under various experimental settings using home-made experimental set-up. The FRDP approach demonstrated 25–30 fold enhancement in signal intensity over classical fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP) method at 3–5 fold increase in total irradiation. Among other advantages of the FRDP is the opportunity to perform measurements on varying time scales under constant size of the bleaching spot, including “safe” long time measurements. The potential extra advantage of FRDP method for analysis of complex diffusion in the biological system is discussed.     

Fluorescence quenching of newly synthesized biologically active coumarin derivative by aniline in binary solvent mixtures

The fluorescence quenching of newly synthesized coumarin (chromen-2-one) derivative, 4-(5-methyl-3-furan-2-yl-benzofuran-2-yl)-7-methyl-chromen-2-one (MFBMC) by aniline in different solvent mixtures of benzene and acetonitrile was determined at room temperature (296 K) by steady-state fluorescence measurements. The quenching is found to be appreciable and positive deviation from linearity was observed in the Stern-Volmer (S-V) plots in all the solvent mixtures. This could be explained by static and dynamic quenching models. The positive deviation in the S-V plot is interpreted in terms of ground-state complex formation model and sphere of action static quenching model. Various rate parameters for the fluorescence quenching process have been determined by using the modified Stern-Volmer equation. The sphere of action static quenching model agrees very well with experimental results. The dependence of Stern-Volmer constant K_SV, on dielectric constant ε of the solvent mixture suggests that the fluorescence quenching is diffusion-limited. Further with the use of finite sink approximation model, it is concluded that these bimolecular quenching reactions are diffusion-limited. Using lifetime (τ_o) data, the distance parameter R′ and mutual diffusion coefficient D are estimated independently.     

Fluorescence probes of viscosity: A comparative study of the fluorescence anisotropy decay of perylene and 3,9-dibromoperylene in glycerol

The authors compare the results of fluorescence anisotropy decay measurements for glycerol solutions of perylene with those of 3,9-dibromoperylene (DBP). For both molecules a good linear dependence is observed between the glycerol viscosity (varied by temperature) and the longer rotational correlation time obtained as a result of a global (using data obtained at 256- and 430-nm excitation wavelengths) biexponential analysis of the fluorescence anisotropy decay, at least in the range of 7–60 P for perylene and 4–60 P for DBP. This significantly extends the reported range of 0.5 to 150 cP investigated by Williams and Ben-Amotz [1] with the probe BTBP.     

Glass composition dependence of Eu ion red fluorescence

Eu³⁺ ion-doped B₂O₃-, SiO₂-, and P₂O₅-based glasses were prepared by the melt-quenching method, and their absorption, fluorescence, and excitation spectra were recorded and assigned. The glass composition dependence of the fluorescence was investigated to obtain the high brightness of the red fluorescence due to the ⁵D₀→⁷F₂ transition of the Eu³⁺ ion. The integrated intensity of the red fluorescence was the strongest at the Eu₂O₃ concentration of 3.5 mol% because the cross-relaxation (CR) processes, (⁵L₆→⁵D_J^′)→(⁷F_J^*←⁷F_J^#) and (⁵D_J→⁵D_J^′)→(⁷F_J^*←⁷F_J^#) (3≧J>J′≧0, 6≧J^*>J^#≧0) between the Eu³⁺ ions were promoted, but the CR processes, (⁵D₀→⁷F_J^′)→∑_m(⁷F_J^*←⁷F_J^″)_m (6≧J′≧0, 6≧J^*>J^″≧0), between the excited Eu³⁺ ion at the ⁵D₀ level and m ions of Eu³⁺ in the ⁷F_J^″ levels were depressed. The former CR processes, (⁵L₆→⁵D_J^′)→(⁷F_J^*←⁷F_J^#) and (⁵D_J→⁵D_J^′)→(⁷F_J^*←⁷F_J^#) were enhanced in the host glasses consisted of the cations with small ionic radius. In this study, a 70B₂O₃-30CaO-3.5Eu₂O₃ glass showed the strongest red fluorescence.     

Temperature-dependent Time-resolved Fluorescence Study of Cinchonine Alkaloid Dication

Photo induced excited state dynamical processes of cinchonine alkaloid dication (C⁺⁺) have been studied over a wide range of temperature using steady state and nanosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopic techniques. The temperature-dependent fluorescence studies of C⁺⁺ clearly indicate the existence of two distinct emitting species having their own characteristic decay rates. The shorter-lived species shows a usual temperature dependence with increasing non-radiative deactivation at higher temperatures, while the longer-lived species show features resembling to the excited state solvent relaxation process with a large solvent relaxation time (τ _r ∼ 6 ns). The species emitting in the lower energy side, having longer decay time is found to be more sensitive towards chloride ion quenching and has a charge transfer character. Further, concentration quenching with decrease in τ _r of long lived species shows the possibility of energy migration along with solvent relaxation in C⁺⁺.     

Effect of structure and concentration of polymer, metal ion and pH of the medium on the fluorescence characteristics of hyperbranched polyamines

A series of hyperbranched polyamines have been prepared by the reported method. All these polyamines exhibit fluorescence at about 350-650 nm with maximum intensity at about 450 nm. The study shows that the fluorescence intensity and the range of wavelength of fluorescence are strongly influenced by the structure of the hyperbranched polyamines. The effect of concentration of the polymer, pH of the medium and metal ion has also been investigated on the fluorescence characteristics of sulfone containing hyperbranched polyamine (Ps), as it shows the best result among the studied polymers. The results show that the intensity of fluorescence increases with the decrease of concentration (5-0.1 g/L in N,N′-dimethyl sulfoxide) of polymer and with the increase of pH (3.1-11.6) of the medium. The quenching of fluorescence increases with the increase of concentration of Cu²⁺ ions (0.01-0.04%). The hyperbranched polyamine (Ps) has also been end capped with benzoyl chloride and 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde to study the influence of end groups. The results showed that the structure of end capped compounds has prominent role to influence fluorescence characteristics of this hyperbranched polyamine.     

Lifetime vibrational interference during the NO 1s-1π* resonant excitation studied by the NO+(A 1Π → X 1Σ+) fluorescence

Dispersed fluorescence from fragments formed after the de-excitation of the 1s^-1π^* resonances of N^*O and NO^* has been measured in the spectral range of 118–142 nm. This range is dominated by lines of atomic nitrogen and oxygen fragments and by the bands in the NO⁺ ion which result from the participator Auger decay of the 1s^-1π^* resonances. Ab-initio calculations of the transition probabilities between vibrational levels during the reaction NO N^*O ⇒ NO were used to explain the observed intensity dependence for the fluorescence bands on the exciting-photon energy across the resonances and on both v^′ and v^′′ vibrational quantum numbers. The multiplet structure of the 1s^-1π^* resonance and lifetime vibrational interference explain the observed exciting-photon energy dependence of the fluorescence intensity. A strong spin-orbit coupling between singlet and triplet states of NO⁺ is proposed to reduce additional cascade population of the state via radiative transitions from the and states and to explain remaining differences between measured and calculated integral fluorescence intensities.     

Synthesis of Novel Eu(III) Luminescent Probe Based on 9- Acridinecarboxylic Acid Skelton for Sensing of ds-DNA

Eu(III)-9-acridinecarboxylate (9-ACA) complex was synthesized and characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity measurement, IR spectroscopy, thermal analysis, mass spectroscopy, ¹H-NMR, fluorescence and ultraviolet spectra. The results indicated that the composition of this complex is [Eu(III)-(9-ACA)₂(NCS)(C₂H₅OH)₂] 2.5 H₂O and the oxygen of the carbonyl group coordinated to Eu(III). The interaction between the complex with nucleotides guanosine 5′- monophosphate (5′-GMP), adenosine 5′-diphosphates (5′-ADP), inosine (5′-IMP) and CT-DNA was studied by fluorescence spectroscopy. The fluorescence intensity of Eu(III)-9-acridinecarboxylate complex was enhanced with the addition of CT-DNA. The effect of pH values on the fluorescence intensity of Eu(III) complex was investigated. Under experimental conditions, the linear range was 9–50 ng mL⁻¹ for calf thymus DNA (CT- DNA) and the corresponding detection limit was 5 ng mL⁻¹. The results showed that Eu(III)-(9-ACA)₂ complex binds to CT-DNA with stability constant of 2.41 × 10⁴ M .     

Quenchers Induce Wavelength Dependence on Protein Fluorescence Lifetimes

We have analysed the picosecond resolved fluorescence emission decay of horseradish peroxidase A2 and of HEW lysozyme acquired with a streak camera. Analyses of the fluorescence decay data of both proteins revealed that the dynamics of the decay is dependent on the emission wavelength. Our data strongly indicates that resonance energy transfer occurring between aromatic residues and different protein fluorescence quencher groups, and the nature of the quencher groups, are the causes of the observed wavelength dependent mean lifetime distribution. Using the global analysis data to calculate the fluorescence mean lifetime at each wavelength revealed that for lysozyme, the mean fluorescence lifetime increased with observation wavelength, whereas the opposite was the case for peroxidase. Both proteins contain strong fluorescence quencher groups located in close spatial proximity to the protein’s aromatic residues. Lysozyme contains disulfide bridges as the main fluorescence quencher whereas peroxidase contains a heme group. Both for lysozyme and horseradish peroxidase there is a clear correlation between the observed fluorescence mean lifetime of the protein at a particular emission wavelength and the respective quencher’s extinction coefficient at the respective wavelength. Furthermore, our study also reports a comparison of the analyses of the fluorescence data done with three different methods. Analyses of the fluorescence decay at 10 different fluorescence emission wavelengths revealed significant differences in both fluorescence lifetimes and the pre-exponential factor distributions. Such values differed from the values recovered from the integrated decay curves and from global analyse.     

Enhanced fluorescence of Tb(III), Dy(III) perchlorate by salicylic acid in bis(benzoylmethyl) sulfoxide complexes and luminescence mechanism

Two novel ternary rare earth perchlorate complexes had been synthesized by using bis(benzoylmethyl) sulfoxide as first ligand (L=C₆H₅COCH₂SOCH₂COC₆H₅), salicylic acid as second ligand (L^′=C₆H₄OHCOO⁻). The compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, TG-DSC and molar conductivities in DMF solution. The composition was suggested as [REL₅L′](ClO₄)₂·nH₂O (RE=Tb, Dy; n=6, 8 ). Based on IR, ¹HNMR and UV spectra, it showed that the first ligand, bis(benzoylmethyl) sulfoxide (L), bonded with Tb(III), Dy(III) ions by the oxygen atom of sulfinyl group. The second ligand, salicylic acid group (L′), not only bonded with RE(III) ions by one oxygen atom of carboxyl group but also bonded with RE(III) ions by oxygen atom of phenolic hydroxyl group. In bis(benzoylmethyl) sulfoxide system, fluorescent spectra of the complexes showed that the luminescence of Tb(III), Dy(III) ions was enhanced by the second ligand salicylic acid. The ternary complexes had stronger fluorescence than the binary ones where only bis(benzoylmethyl) sulfoxide acted as ligand. Phosphorescent spectra of the two ligands indicated that the coordination of salicylic acid resulted in the matching extent increasing between the triplet state of ligand and excited state of the rare earths. The relationship between fluorescence lifetime and fluorescence intensity was also discussed.     

Frequency Domain Fluorescence Lifetime Study of Crude Petroleum Oils

Frequency domain (FD) fluorescence lifetime data was collected for a series of 20 crude petroleum oils using a 405 nm excitation source and over a spectral range of ~426 to ~650 nm. Average fluorescence lifetimes were calculated using three different models: discrete multi-exponential, Gaussian distribution, and Lorentzian distribution. Fitting the data to extract accurate average lifetimes using the various models proved easier and less time consuming for the FD data than with Time Correlated Single Photon Counting (TCSPC) methods however the analysis of confidence intervals to the computed average lifetimes proved cumbersome for both methods. The uncertainty in the average lifetime was generally larger for the discrete lifetime multi-exponential model when compared to the distribution-based models. For the lifetime distributions, the data from the light crude oils with long lifetimes generally fit to a single decay term. Heavier oils with shorter lifetimes required multiple decay terms. The actual value for the average lifetime is more dependant on the specific fitting model employed than the data acquisition method used. Correlations between average fluorescence lifetimes and physical and chemical parameters of the crude oils were made with a view to developing a quantitative model for predicting the gross chemical composition of crude oils. It was found that there was no significant benefit gained by using FD over TCSPC other than more rapid data analysis in the FD case. For the FD data the Gaussian distribution model for fluorescence lifetime gave the best correlations with chemical composition allowing a qualitative correlation to some bulk oil parameters.