Many-photon dynamics of photobleaching

A detailed dynamical theory of photobleaching by periodical sequences of laser pulses is presented. The theory is used for interpretation of recent experiments with pyrylium salts. Our simulations are based on first-principles simulations of photoabsorption cross-sections and on empirical rate constants. Two competitive channels of photobleaching, namely, photobleaching from the lowest excited singlet and triplet states and from higher excited states, are found to explain different intensity dependences of the photobleaching rates in different samples. The process includes two-photon excitation from the ground state to the first or second excited singlet states and one-photon excitation from the first singlet or triplet states to higher excited states. The fluorescence follows double-exponential dynamics with two characteristic times. The first and the shorter one is the equilibrium settling time between the ground and the lowest triplet states. The second characteristic time, the time of photobleaching, is responsible for the long-term dynamics. The effective rate of photobleaching from the first excited singlet and lowest triplet states depends differently on the irradiance in comparison with the photobleaching in higher states. The first channel is characterized by a quadratic intensity dependence in contrast to the second channel that shows a cubic dependence. The competition between these photobleaching channels is very sensitive to the rate constants as well as to the repetition rate, the pulse duration, and the peak intensity. The double-exponential decay of the fluorescence is explained by the spatial inhomogeneity of the light beam. The findings in this work are discussed in terms of the possibility of using many-photon-induced photobleaching for new three-dimensional read-write devices.     

Excited-state symmetry and reorientation dynamics of perylenes in liquid solutions: time-resolved fluorescence depolarization studies using one- and two-photon excitation

The excited-state symmetry and molecular reorientation of perylene, 1,7-diazaperylene, and 2,5,8,11-tetra- tert-butylperylene have been studied by different fluorescence depolarization experiments. The first excited electronic singlet state was reached through one-photon excitation (OPE) and two-photon excitation (TPE). A 400 and 800 nm femtosecond laser pulse was used for this purpose, and data were collected by means of the time-correlated single-photon counting technique. It is found that the rotational correlation times for each perylene derivative are very similar in the OPE and TPE depolarization experiments. For the determination of the two-photon absorption tensor, a recently described theoretical model has been applied (Ryderfors et al. J. Phys. Chem. A 2007, 111, 11531). It was found that the two-photon process can be described by a 2 x 2 absorption tensor for which the components are solvent dependent and exhibit mixed vibronic character. In the dipole approximation this is compatible with a parity-forbidden two-photon absorption into the first excited singlet state.     

Two-photon-excited fluorescence of zinc(Ⅱ),cadmium(Ⅱ) complexes containing phenothiazine ligand

Two new ligands, S-benzyl-β-N-[10-ethylphenothiazine-3-methylene] dithiocarbazate (HL1), S-methyl-β-N-[10-ethylphenothiazine-3-methylene] dithiocarbazate (HL2), and their complexes which exhibit intensive two-photon excited (TPE) fluorescence at 800 nm laser pulses in the femtosecond regime, are synthesized and fully characterized. The measured power dependence of the fluorescence signals provides a direct evidence for TPE. All of them exhibit a large two-photon absorptive crosssection. The two-photon-excited fluorescence spectra of them are compared and contrasted with the corresponding results obtained from the one-photon excitation. Emission peaks of the ligands and their complexes are observed mostly at the region 550-595 nm in the TPE fluorescence spectra.     

Two-photon excitation studies of hypocrellins for photodynamic therapy

The photophysical and photochemical properties of hypocrellins (HA and HB) are examined with two-photon excitations at 800 nm using femtosecond pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser. The two-photon excited fluorescence spectra of HA and HB are very similar to those obtained by one-photon excitation, which may indicate that the two-photon induced photodynamic processes of hypocrellins are similar to one-photon induced photodynamic processes. The two-photon excitation cross sections of HA and HB are measured at 800 nm as about 34.8 x 10(-50) cm(4) s/photon and 21.3 x 10(-50) cm(4) s/photon, respectively. The large two-photon cross sections of both HA and HB, suggest that the hypocrellins can be potential two-photon phototherapeutic agents. As an example for two-photon photodynamic therapy of hypocrellins, we also further examine the cell-damaging effects of HA upon two-photon illumination. Our preliminary results of cell viability test indicate hypocrellins can effectively damage the Hela cells under two-photon illumination.     

Two-photon excitation of 2,5-diphenyloxazole using a low power green solid state laser

This Letter concerns two-photon excitation of 2,5-Diphenyloxazole (PPO) upon illumination from a pulsed 532 nm solid state laser, with an average power of 30 mW, and a repetition rate of 20 MHz. A very agreeable emission spectrum position and shape has been achieved for PPO receiving one- and two-photon excitation, which suggests that the same excited state is involved for both excitation modes. Also, a perfect quadratic dependence of laser power in the emission intensity function has been recorded. We tested the application of a small solid state green laser to two-photon induced time-resolved fluorescence, revealing the emission anisotropy of PPO to be considerably higher for two-photon than for one-photon excitation.     

The two-photon excitation cross section of 6MAP, a fluorescent adenine analogue

6MAP is a fluorescent analogue of adenine that undergoes Watson-Crick base pairing and base stacking in double-stranded DNA. The one-photon absorption spectrum of 6MAP is characterized by a maximum around 330 nm with moderate quantum yield fluorescence centered at about 420 nm. To take advantage of this probe for confocal and single-molecule microscopy, it would be advantageous to be able to excite the analogue via two photons. We report the first determination of the two-photon excitation cross section and spectrum for 6MAP from 614 to 700 nm. The power dependence of the fluorescence indicates that emission results from the absorption of two photons. The one-photon and two-photon emission line shapes are identical within experimental error. A study of the concentration dependence of the fluorescence yield for one-photon excitation shows no measurable quenching up to about 5 microM. The maximum in the two-photon excitation spectrum gives a two-photon cross section, delta(TPE), of 3.4 +/- 0.1 Goeppert-Mayer (G.M.) at 659 nm, which correlates well with the one-photon absorption maximum. This compares quite favorably with cross sections of various naturally fluorescent biological molecules such as flavins and nicotiamide. In addition, we have also obtained the two-photon-induced fluorescence emission spectrum of quinine sulfate. It is approximately the same as that for one-photon excitation, suggesting that two-photon excitation of quinine sulfate may be used for calibration purposes.     

Photophysical aspects of single-molecule detection by two-photon excitation with consideration of sequential pulsed illumination.

An important goal in single molecule fluorescence correlation spectroscopy is the theoretical simulation of the fluorescence signal stemming from individual molecules and its autocorrelation function. The simulation approaches developed up to now are based exclusively on continuous-wave (cw) illumination and consequently on cw-excitation. However, this approximation is no longer valid in the case of two-photon excitation, for which pulsed illumination is usually employed. We present a novel theoretical model for the simulation of the fluorescence signal of single molecules and its autocorrelation function with consideration of the time dependence of the excitation flux and thus of all illumination-dependent photoprocesses: two-photon excitation, induced emission and photobleaching. Further important characteristics of our approach are the consideration of the dependence of the photobleaching rate on illumination and the low intersystem-crossing rates of the studied coumarins. Moreover, using our approach, we can predict quantitatively the effect of the laser pulse width on the fluorescence signal of a molecule, that is, the contributions of the photobleaching and saturation effects, and thus we can calculate the optimal laser pulse width. The theoretical autocorrelation functions were fitted to the experimental data, and we could ascertain a good agreement between the resulting and the expected parameters. The most important parameter is the photobleaching constant sigma, the cross section of the transition Sn<--S1, which characterises the photostability of the molecules independent of the experimental conditions. Its value is 1.7 x 10(-23) cm2 for coumarin 153 and 5 x 10(-23) cm2 for coumarin 314.     

Fluorescence spectral properties of the anticancer drug topotecan by steady-state and frequency domain fluorometry with one-photon and multi-photon excitation

Topotecan is an antitumor agent with activity against a variety of cancers. We examined the steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectral properties of topotecan with one- and two-photon excitation. Topotecan was found to display a high two-photon cross section near 20 GM for wavelengths within the fundamental output of a Ti:sapphire laser, 800-880 nm. In frozen solution the anisotropies of topotecan are near the theoretical maxima for one-photon and two-photon excitation with colinear electronic transitions. The intensity and anisotropy decays of topotecan fluorescence were found to be homogeneous (single exponentials) in phosphate-buffered saline and propylene glycol. The steady-state and time-resolved data indicate that topotecan binds to a double-helical DNA oligomer d(AT)10 resulting in increased anisotropies and multiexponential intensity and anisotropy decays. Subnanosecond components in the anisotropy decay of the DNA-topotecan complex suggest loose binding of the drug to DNA. Loose binding of topotecan to DNA is also revealed by accessibility of topotecan to collisional quenching by iodide.     

Femtosecond photolysis of aqueous formamide

In this work, we investigate the primary photodynamics of aqueous formamide. The formamide was photolyzed using 200 nm femtosecond pulses, and formation of products and their relaxation was followed with approximately 300 fs time resolution using probe pulses covering the range from 193 to 700 nm. Following excitation, the majority of formamide molecules (approximately 80%) converts the electronic excitation energy to vibrational excitation, which effectively is dissipated to the solvent through vibrational relaxation in just a few picoseconds. The vibrational relaxation is observed as a distinct modulation of the electronic absorption spectrum of formamide. The relaxation process is modeled by a simple one-dimensional wavepacket calculation. A smaller fraction of the excited formamide molecules dissociates to the CHO and NH2 radical pairs, of which 50% escape recombination. In addition to the electronic excitation of formamide, we also observe a small contribution from one-photon ionization of formamide and two-photon ionization and dissociation of the water solvent.     

One-, two-, and three-photon absorption induced fluorescence of a novel chromophore in chloroform solution

One-, two-, and three-photon absorption induced fluorescence intensities of a novel nonlinear optical chromophore have been measured by using a tunable femtosecond pulsed laser as the excitation. Four resonance peaks are observed as the excitation wavelength is tuned from 600 to 2000 nm. These peaks correspond to the one-, two- and three-photon fluorescence resonance. Except for intensity difference, the lifetime and the fluorescence spectrum are found to be the same for the one-, two-, or three-photon resonance, hence suggesting that the same excited energy level is involved in emitting the fluorescence intensity. A three-level model is developed to account for the incident excitation laser intensity dependence of the one-photon and multiphoton fluorescence intensity. The model allows the multiphoton absorption cross sections to be extracted; it can also account for the deviation observed in the linear, square, and cubic intensity dependence of the one-, two-, and three-photon fluorescence intensity, respectively. To determine the absorption cross sections, the present method does not require the fluorescence quantum efficiency data, needed in the low intensity technique.     

Two-photon uncaging with fluorescence reporting: evaluation of the o-hydroxycinnamic platform

This paper evaluates the o-hydroxycinnamic platform for designing efficient caging groups with fluorescence reporting upon one- and two-photon excitation. The model cinnamates are easily prepared in one step by coupling commercial or readily available synthons. They exhibit a large one-photon absorption that can be tuned in the near-UV range. Uncaging after one-photon excitation was investigated by 1H NMR, UV-vis absorption, and steady-state fluorescence emission. In the whole investigated series, the caged substrate is quantitatively released upon photolysis. At the same time, uncaging releases a strongly fluorescent coproduct that can be used as a reporter for quantitative substrate delivery. The quantum yield of double bond photoisomerization leading to uncaging after one-photon absorption mostly lies in the 10% range. Taking advantage of the favorable photophysical properties of the uncaging coproduct, we use a series of techniques based on fluorescence emission to measure the action uncaging cross sections with two-photon excitation of the present cinnamates. Exhibiting values in the 1-10 GM range at 750 nm, they satisfactorily compare with the most efficient caging groups reported to date. Noticeably, the uncaging behavior with two-photon excitation is retained in vivo as suggested by the results observed in living zebrafish embryos. Reliable structure property relationships were extracted from analysis of the present collected data. In particular, the careful kinetic analysis allows us to discuss the relevance of the o-hydroxycinnamic platform for diverse caging applications with one- and two-photon excitation.     

Photobleaching pathways in single-molecule FRET experiments

To acquire accurate structural and dynamical information on complex biomolecular machines using single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer (sm-FRET), a large flux of donor and acceptor photons is needed. To achieve such fluxes, one may use higher laser excitation intensity; however, this induces increased rates of photobleaching. Anti-oxidant additives have been extensively used for reducing acceptor's photobleaching. Here we focus on deciphering the initial step along the photobleaching pathway. Utilizing an array of recently developed single-molecule and ensemble spectroscopies and doubly labeled Acyl-CoA binding protein and double-stranded DNA as model systems, we study these photobleaching pathways, which place fundamental limitations on sm-FRET experiments. We find that: (i) acceptor photobleaching scales with FRET efficiency, (ii) acceptor photobleaching is enhanced under picosecond-pulsed (vs continuous-wave) excitation, and (iii) acceptor photobleaching scales with the intensity of only the short wavelength (donor) excitation laser. We infer from these findings that the main pathway for acceptor's photobleaching is through absorption of a short wavelength photon from the acceptor's first excited singlet state and that donor's photobleaching is usually not a concern. We conclude by suggesting the use of short pulses for donor excitation, among other possible remedies, for reducing acceptor's photobleaching in sm-FRET measurements.     

Two-color two-photon excitation using femtosecond laser pulses

The use of two-color two-photon (2c2p) excitation easily extends the wavelength range of Ti:sapphire lasers to the UV, widening the scope of its applications especially in biological sciences. We report observation of 2c2p excitation fluorescence of p-terphenyl (PTP), 2-methyl-5-t-butyl-p-quaterphenyl (DMQ) and tryptophan upon excitation with 400 and 800 nm wavelengths using the second harmonic and fundamental wavelength of a mode-locked Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser. This excitation is energetically equivalent to a one-photon excitation wavelength at 266 nm. The fluorescence signal is observed only when both wavelengths are spatially and temporally overlapping. Adjustment of the relative delay of the two laser pulses renders a cross correlation curve which is in good agreement with the pulse width of our laser. The fluorescence signal is linearly dependent on the intensity of each of the two colors but quadratically on the total incident illumination power of both colors. In fluorescence microscopy, the use of a combination of intense IR and low-intensity blue light as a substitute for UV light for excitation can have numerous advantages. Additionally, the effect of differently polarized excitation photons relative to each other is demonstrated. This offers information about different transition symmetries and yields deeper insight into the two-photon excitation process.     

One- and two-photon photosensitized singlet oxygen production: characterization of aromatic ketones as sensitizer standards

Singlet molecular oxygen, O2(a1Deltag), can be efficiently produced in a photosensitized process using either one- or two-photon irradiation. The aromatic ketone 1-phenalenone (PN) is an established one-photon singlet oxygen sensitizer with many desirable attributes for use as a standard. In the present work, photophysical properties of two other aromatic ketones, pyrene-1,6-dione (PD) and benzo[cd]pyren-5-one (BP), are reported and compared to those of PN. Both PD and BP sensitize the production of singlet oxygen with near unit quantum efficiency in a nonpolar (toluene) and a polar (acetonitrile) solvent. With their more extensive pi networks, the one-photon absorption spectra for PD and BP extend out to longer wavelengths than that for PN, thus providing increased flexibility for sensitizer excitation over the range approximately 300-520 nm. Moreover, PD and BP have much larger two-photon absorption cross sections than PN over the range 655-840 nm which, in turn, results in amounts of singlet oxygen that are readily detected in optical experiments. One- and two-photon absorption spectra of PD and BP obtained using high-level calculations model the salient features of the experimental data well. In particular, the ramifications of molecular symmetry are clearly reflected in both the experimental and calculated spectra. The use of PD and BP as standards for both the one- and two-photon photosensitized production of singlet oxygen is expected to facilitate the development of new sensitizers for application in singlet-oxygen-based imaging experiments.     

Two-photon excitation of substituted enediynes

Electronic spectroscopy of nine benzannelated enediynes and a related fulvene was studied under one-photon and two-photon excitation conditions. We utilize measured absorbance and emission spectra and time-resolved fluorescence decays of these molecules to calculate their radiative lifetimes and fluorescence quantum yields. The fluorescence quantum yields for the other compounds were referenced to the fluorescence quantum yield of compound 3 and used to determine relative two-photon absorption cross-sections. Further insight into experimental studies has been achieved using time-dependent density functional (TD-DFT) computations. The probability of two-photon absorption (TPA) increases noticeably for excitation to the higher excited states. The photophysical properties of benzannelated enediynes are sensitive to substitutions at both the core and the periphery of the enediyne chromophore. Considerably enhanced two-photon absorption is observed in an enediyne with donor substitution in the middle and acceptor substitution at the termini. Excited states with B symmetry are not active in TPA spectra. From a practical point of view, this study extends the range of wavelengths applicable for activation of the enediyne moiety from 350 to 600 nm and provides a rational basis for future studies in this field. Our theoretical computations confirmed that lowest energy TPA in benzannelated enediynes involves different orbitals than lowest energy one-photon absorbance and provided further support to the notion that introduction of donor and acceptor substituents at different ends of a molecule increases TPA.     

Two-photon spectroscopy of organic molecules recorded by the fluorescence induced by a picosecond light continuum generated in D2O

It is shown that the fluorescence of large organic molecules induced by the two-photon excitation of a picosecond light continuum generated in D₂O is a useful and sensitive new technique for two-photon spectroscopic study or excited electronic states of large organic molecules in solution This technique is tested on the first two singlet transitions of rhodamine 6G and on the first singlet transitions (430–630 nm) of naphthalene.     

Two-photon spectroscopic behaviors and photodynamic effect on the BEL-7402 cancer cells of the new chlorophyll photosensitizer

The spectroscopic properties of a new chlorophyll derivate photosensitizer(CDP) are studied under the excitation wavelengths at 800 and 400 nm using femtosecond pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser.The damaging effect of CDP on the BEL-7402 cancer cells is also investigated upon two-photon illumination at 800 nm.The normalized fluorescence spectra of CDP in tetrahydrofuran(THF) show that two-photon and one-photon spectra have the same distributions and the same emission bands(675 nm).The life-times of two-and one-photon induced fluorescence of this molecule are of the order of 5.0 ns.By comparing the data it is shown that there is some difference between the two lifetimes,but the differ-ence is less than one nanosecond.The two-photon absorption cross section of the molecule is also measured at 800 nm and estimated as about σ′2 ≈ 31.5×10-50 cm4·s·photon-1.The results of two-photon photodynamic therapy(TPPDT) tests show that CDP can kill all of the tested cancer cells according to the usual Eosine assessment.Our results indicate that the two-photon-induced photophysical,photo-chemical and photosensitizing processes of CDP may be basically similar to those of one-photon ex-citation.These behaviors of the sample suggest that one may find other possible methods to estimate some photosensitizers' effects in details such as their distribution in cells and the reactive targets of the sub-cellular parts of some tumor cells via two-photon excitation techniques.     

Femtosecond spectroscopic studies of the one- and two-photon excited-state dynamics of 2,2,17,17-tetramethyloctadeca-5,9,13-trien-3,7,11,15-tetrayne: a trimeric oligodiacetylene

The excited-state dynamics of an oligomer of polydiacetylene, 2,2,17,17-tetramethyloctadeca-5,9,13-trien-3,7,11,15-tetrayne, dissolved in n-hexane have been studied by femtosecond fluorescence upconversion and polarized transient absorption experiments under one- and two-photon excitation conditions. Spectroscopically monitoring the population relaxation in the excited states in real time results in a distinct time separation of the dynamics. It has been concluded that the observed dynamics can be fully accounted for on the basis of the two lower excited states of the target molecule. The S1 (2(1)Ag) state, which cannot be excited from the ground state with one-photon absorption, is verified to be populated via internal conversion in 200+/-40 fs from the strong dipole-allowed S2 (1(1)Bu) state. The population in the "hot" S1 state subsequently cools with a time constant of 6+/-1 ps and decays back to the ground state with a lifetime of 790+/-12 ps.     

Two-photon transitions in quadrupolar and branched chromophores: experiment and theory

A combined experimental and theoretical study is conducted on a series of model compounds in order to assess the combined role of branching and charge symmetry on absorption, photoluminescence, and two-photon absorption (TPA) properties. The main issue of this study is to examine how branching of quadrupolar chomophores can lead to different consequences as compared to branching of dipolar chromophores. Hence, three structurally related pi-conjugated quadrupolar chromophores symmetrically substituted with donor end groups and one branched structure built from the assembly of three quadrupolar branches via a common donor moiety are used as model compounds. Their photophysical properties are studied using UV-vis spectroscopy, and the TPA spectra are determined through two-photon excited fluorescence experiments using femtosecond pulses in the 500-1000 nm range. Experimental studies are complemented by theoretical calculations. The applied theoretical methodology is based on time-dependent density functional theory, the Frenkel exciton model, and analysis in terms of the natural transition orbitals of relevant electronic states. Theory reveals that a symmetrical intramolecular charge transfer from the terminal donating groups to the middle of the molecule takes place in all quadrupolar chromophores upon photoexcitation. In contrast, branching via a central electron-donating triphenylamine moiety breaks the quadrupolar symmetry of the branches. Consequently, all Frank-Condon excited states have significant asymmetric multidimensional charge-transfer character upon excitation. Subsequent vibrational relaxation of the branched chromophore in the excited state leads to a localization of the excitation and fluorescence stemming from a single branch. As opposed to what was earlier observed when dipolar chromophores are branched via the same common electron-donating moiety, we find only a slight enhancement of the maximum TPA response of the branched compound with respect to an additive contribution of its quadrupolar branches. In contrast, substantial modifications of the spectral shape are observed. This is attributed to the subtle interplay of interbranch electronic coupling and asymmetry caused by branching.