Polarized fluorescence and absorption spectroscopy of 1,32-dihydroxy-dotriacontane-bis-rhodamine 101 ester. A new and lipid bilayer-spanning probe

We report on the properties of 1,32-dihydroxy-dotriacontane-bis-rhodamine 101 ester (Rh101C₃₂Rh101) in lipid bilayers of 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC) and in liquid solvents. The results are compared with those of rhodamine 101 octadecanyl ester (Rh101C₁₈). Both molecules are solubilized in the lipid bilayer and the Rh101 moieties are anchored in the lipid-water interface, so that the electronic transition dipole moments (S ₀ S ₁) are oriented preferentially in the plane of the bilayer. At low concentrations of the dyes in lipid bilayers of DOPC, the fluorescence relaxation is single exponential with a lifetime of =4.9±0.2 ns. The relative fluorescence quantum yield of _C32/_C18 0.95 in DOPC vesicles. These results strongly suggest that only a small fraction of the Rh101C₃₂Rh101 molecules are quenched, by, for example, intra- or intermolecular dimers in the ground state at mole fractions of less than 0.1% in the lipid bilayers. For Rh101C₃₂Rh101 in lipid vesicles, the steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence anisotropies are compatible with efficient intramolecular electronic energy transfer. It is concluded that nearly every Rh101C₃₂Rh101 molecule is spanning across the lipid bilayer of DOPC.