Cucurbituril Encapsulation of Fluorescent Dyes

The potential of cucurbiturils, water-soluble macrocyclic host molecules composed of glycoluril units, for tuning the properties of fluorescent dyes and advancing new applications is illustrated. Cucurbit[7]uril (CB7), which presents a particularly attractive derivative due to its intermediary size and high water solubility, has been shown to display a variety of advantageous effects on fluorescent dyes, which include increased fluorescence intensity and brightness, enhanced photostability, protection towards fluorescence quenchers, solubilization, and deaggregation. Particularly noteworthy is the prolongation of the fluorescence lifetimes of different dyes, which can be traced back to the low polarizability of the host cavity. In addition, the host serves as cation receptor, which causes a considerable shift of protonation equilibria and assists the protonation of fluorescent dyes. The latter effect can be exploited in the design of protolytic fluorophore displacement assays. The perspective of cucurbiturils as stabilizers for laser dyes, enhancement agents in time-resolved fluorescence (TRF) assays, contrast agents for fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM), and dyes for fluorescent collectors for solar cells is mentioned. Original experimental results for the effect of CB7 on the fluorescence properties of three dyes (Macrolex Yellow 10 GN, Dapoxyl, and 4-(dimethylamino)benzonitrile) are presented.