Temperature-induced structural and permeability changes in dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB) vesicles: a fluorescence investigation using 2-[(p-methylamino)phenyl]-3,3-dimethyl-5-carboethoxy-3H-indole as a probe

An investigation of the temperature dependence of the fluorescence spectral characteristics of 2-(p-methyl-amino)phenyl]-3,3-dimethyl-5-carboethoxy-3H indole (I) in aqueous micelles(sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)) and surfactant vesicles (dioctadecyldimethylammonium bromide (DODAB)) is presented. The gel-to-liquid crystalline phase transition temperature T_c, determined to be approximately 309 K (36°C) for DODAB vesicles, is in close agreement with the value reported previously. A pretransition at 294 K (21°C) has also been obtained. The blue shift in the fluorescence maximum and the increase in bandwidth are accounted for by the displacement of molecule I towards the interior of the bilayer as a function of temperature. Arrhenius plots for the non-radiative decay processes competing with fluorescence as a function of temperature show relatively high values for the activation energy above the phase transition temperature, indicating the displacement of molecule I to a new, more viscous, less polar site compared with its initial location in DODAB. The highest value of the activation energy in water indicates that the decay dynamics of this molecule are different in water than in the organized media studied here.