Synthetic and natural hydroxyflavylium salts are super-photoacids, exhibiting values of the rate ... more Synthetic and natural hydroxyflavylium salts are super-photoacids, exhibiting values of the rate constant for proton transfer to water in the excited state as high as 1.5 x 10(11) s(-1). The synthetic flavylium salt 4-carboxy-7-hydroxy-4'-methoxyflavylium chloride (CHMF) has an additional carboxyl group at the 4-position of the flavylium cation that deprotonates in the ground state at a lower pH (pK(a1) = 0.73; AH2+ --> Z) than the 7-hydroxy group (pK(a2) = 4.84; Z --> A-). Ground-state deprotonation of the carboxyl group of the acid (AH2+) to form the zwitterion (Z) is too fast to be detected by nanosecond laser flash perturbation of the ground-state equilibrium, while deprotonation of the hydroxyl group of Z to form the anionic base (A-) occurs in the microsecond time range (k(d2) = 0.6 x 10(6) s(-1) and k(p2) = 4.2 x 10(10) M(-1) x s(-1)). In the excited state, the cationic form (AH2+) deprotonates in approximately 9 ps, resulting in the excited neutral base form (AH), ...
The functionalized flavylium salt 6-hexyl-7-hydroxy-4-methyflavylium chloride (HHMF) was employed... more The functionalized flavylium salt 6-hexyl-7-hydroxy-4-methyflavylium chloride (HHMF) was employed to probe some of the fundamental features of proton transfer reactions at the surface of anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cationic hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) micelles. In contrast to most ordinary flavylium salts, HHMF is insoluble in water, but readily incorporates into SDS and CTAC micelles. In the ground state, the rate constant for deprotonation of the acid form (AH+) of HHMF decreases 100-fold upon going from CTAC (kd = 3.0 x 10(6) s(-1)) to SDS (kd = 1.4 x 10(4) s(-1)), consistent with the presence of an activation barrier for proton transfer in the ground state and reflecting, respectively, stabilization or destabilization of the AH+ cation by the micelle. Reprotonation of A is diffusion-controlled in both micelles (kp(SDS) = (2.1 x 10(11))[H+]aq s(-1) and kp(CTAC) = (3.7 x 10(8))[H+]aq s(-1)), the difference reflecting the rate of proton entry into the micelles. In the excited singlet state, the rate constants for deprotonation of the AH+* form of HHMF are similar in the two micelles (2.4 x 10(10) s(-1)), consistent with activationless proton transfer. Reprotonation of the excited A is dominated by fast geminate recombination of the photogenerated (A*-H+) pair at the micelle surface (k(rec)(SDS) = 6.1 x 10(9) s(-1) and k(rec)(CTAC) = 3.4 x 10(10) s(-1)) and the net efficiencies of geminate recombination are quite similar in SDS (0.89) and CTAC (0.86).
2',7&... more 2',7'-Difluorofluorescein (Oregon Green 488, OG488) is a novel fluorescein dye derivative which presents important advantages for improving the fluorimetric applications in the biomedical and biochemical sciences. In aqueous solution it displays four prototropic forms, namely cation (C), neutral (N), monoanion (M), and dianion (D). In previous works, we found (J. Phys. Chem. A 2005, 109, 734-747, 2840-2846) that OG488 undergoes excited-state proton transfer reactions, which may affect the results from applications using this dye. We established that the excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) reactions between neutral, monoanionic, and dianionic forms of OG488 are promoted by acetate buffer, and we characterized the ground and excited species involved. We also solved the kinetics of the prototropic reactions using global compartmental analysis. In the present paper, we extend our study on the ESPT reactions of OG488 to acidic media, in which only the three prototropic species cation, neutral, and monoanion coexist. We have solved the kinetics of the three-state ESPT reaction by means of global three-compartmental analysis of a fluorescence decay surface in moderately acidic media (pH between 1.1 and 3.0), recovering the kinetic and spectral parameters of this three-state system. This system is one of the most complex solved to date, due to the strong overlap of the absorption and emission spectra of the neutral and monoanionic forms of OG488. We also found that the cation behaves as "super" photoacid, showing a very high deprotonation rate constant (1.04 x 10(11) s(-1)) and an enhanced acidity. Therefore, we also carried out experiments at very high perchloric acid concentrations, dealing with some other effects which become noteworthy at these [H(+)]. The presence of xanthylium cation quenching due to "free" water molecules, and the reduction in the amount of water clusters acting as proton acceptors, are processes which alter notably the time course of the excited-species in this high [H(+)] range.
ABSTRACT Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-bithiophene) (F8T2) exhibits two distinct conformations in ... more ABSTRACT Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-bithiophene) (F8T2) exhibits two distinct conformations in solution depending on the temperature and solvent. The transition from the high- to low-temperature conformation resembles the β-phase formation of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PFO), in the sense that there is an increase of the conjugation length, while involving less pronounced enthalpy and entropy changes (ΔH = −7.1 kcal/mol and ΔS = −22.9 cal/(mol K) vs ΔH = −18.0 kcal/mol and ΔS = −68.4 cal/(mol K) for PFO). The entropy loss indicates a substantial increase in the polymer order in the low-temperature conformation. Fluorescence decays of F8T2 in solvents with various viscosities, at different temperatures and collected at different emission wavelengths, are triple-exponential in character (e.g., 20, 440, and 650 ps in methylcyclohexane, at 20 °C). The two longer decay times are related to the lifetimes of the two conformations. The shorter decay time appears as either a decay or rise time, at the onset or the tail of the emission band, respectively, and is assigned to conformational relaxation on the basis of its dependence on solvent viscosity and temperature.
Two highly fluorescent mutants of ubiquitin (E51Q and E51A) were produced by mutation of a single... more Two highly fluorescent mutants of ubiquitin (E51Q and E51A) were produced by mutation of a single amino acid, demonstrating that excited-state proton transfer from the tyrosine residue to the carboxylate group of Glu-51 in ubiquitin is responsible for the reduced fluorescence of wild-type ubiquitin (wt-UBQ) at pH 5. E51A shows a Tm=59 degrees C at pH 1.5 and a Tm>80 degrees C at pH 5 similar to wt-UBQ, which shows that the mutation has not altered the protein structure significantly. The high and constant fluorescence from pH 1.5 to pH 7 allows for the study of the folding/unfolding over a wide range of pHs which would otherwise be impossible with wt-UBQ.
The red flavylium cations of anthocyanins form ground-state charge-transfer complexes with severa... more The red flavylium cations of anthocyanins form ground-state charge-transfer complexes with several naturally occurring electron-donor copigments, such as hydroxylated flavones and hydroxycinnamic or benzoic acids. Excitation of the 7-methoxy-4-methyl-flavylium-protocatechuic acid complex results in ultrafast (240 fs) internal conversion to the ground state of the complex by way of a low-lying charge-transfer state. Thus, both uncomplexed anthocyanins, whose excited state decays by fast (5-20 ps) excited-state proton transfer, and anthocyanin-copigment complexes have highly efficient mechanisms of deactivation that are consistent with the proposed protective role of anthocyanins against excess solar radiation in the vegetative tissues of plants.
The fluorescence decays of a stereoregular head-to-tail RR-HT poly(3-hexylthiophene), P3HT, in me... more The fluorescence decays of a stereoregular head-to-tail RR-HT poly(3-hexylthiophene), P3HT, in methylcyclohexane (MCH) are described by sums of three or four exponential terms, respectively above and below -10 °C. In the high-temperature region, the polymer lifetime (ca. 500 ps) is accompanied by two shorter decay times (ca. 20 and 120 ps), which are assigned to intrachain energy transfer from high to lower energy excitons on the basis of temperature and wavelength dependence of the fluorescence decays. The absence of conformational (torsional) relaxation is attributed to the small dihedral angle between monomers that is predicted for the stereoregular polymer in the ground state. Below -10 °C, the polymer forms excimer-like aggregates, showing vibrational structured absorption and emission bands similar to those observed in thin films. The vibrational structure is attributed to a deep minimum in the ground-state energy surface of the dimer or aggregate. Below -40 °C, the fluorescen...
Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids, Nov 7, 2017
The modulation of conjugated polyelectrolyte fluorescence response by nonionic surfactants is dep... more The modulation of conjugated polyelectrolyte fluorescence response by nonionic surfactants is dependent on the structures of the surfactant and polymer, polymer average molecular weight, and polyelectrolyte-surfactant interactions. In this paper, we study the effect of nonionic n-alkyl polyoxyethylene surfactants (CiEj) with different alkyl chain lengths (CiE5 with i = 6, 8, 10, and 12) and number of oxyethylene groups (C12Ej with j = 5, 7, and 9) on the photophysics and ionic conductivity of poly{[9,9-bis(6'-N,N,N-trimethylammonium)-hexyl]-2,7-fluorene-alt-1,4-phenylene}bromide (HTMA-PFP) in dimethyl sulfoxide-water 4% (v/v). Molecular dynamics simulations show that HTMA-PFP chains tend to approach as the simulation evolves. However, the minimum distance between the polymer centers of mass increases upon addition of the surfactant and grows with both the surfactant alkyl chain length and the number of oxyethylene groups, although there are no specific polymer-surfactant interac...
Synthetic and natural hydroxyflavylium salts are super-photoacids, exhibiting values of the rate ... more Synthetic and natural hydroxyflavylium salts are super-photoacids, exhibiting values of the rate constant for proton transfer to water in the excited state as high as 1.5 x 10(11) s(-1). The synthetic flavylium salt 4-carboxy-7-hydroxy-4'-methoxyflavylium chloride (CHMF) has an additional carboxyl group at the 4-position of the flavylium cation that deprotonates in the ground state at a lower pH (pK(a1) = 0.73; AH2+ --> Z) than the 7-hydroxy group (pK(a2) = 4.84; Z --> A-). Ground-state deprotonation of the carboxyl group of the acid (AH2+) to form the zwitterion (Z) is too fast to be detected by nanosecond laser flash perturbation of the ground-state equilibrium, while deprotonation of the hydroxyl group of Z to form the anionic base (A-) occurs in the microsecond time range (k(d2) = 0.6 x 10(6) s(-1) and k(p2) = 4.2 x 10(10) M(-1) x s(-1)). In the excited state, the cationic form (AH2+) deprotonates in approximately 9 ps, resulting in the excited neutral base form (AH), ...
The functionalized flavylium salt 6-hexyl-7-hydroxy-4-methyflavylium chloride (HHMF) was employed... more The functionalized flavylium salt 6-hexyl-7-hydroxy-4-methyflavylium chloride (HHMF) was employed to probe some of the fundamental features of proton transfer reactions at the surface of anionic sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and cationic hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (CTAC) micelles. In contrast to most ordinary flavylium salts, HHMF is insoluble in water, but readily incorporates into SDS and CTAC micelles. In the ground state, the rate constant for deprotonation of the acid form (AH+) of HHMF decreases 100-fold upon going from CTAC (kd = 3.0 x 10(6) s(-1)) to SDS (kd = 1.4 x 10(4) s(-1)), consistent with the presence of an activation barrier for proton transfer in the ground state and reflecting, respectively, stabilization or destabilization of the AH+ cation by the micelle. Reprotonation of A is diffusion-controlled in both micelles (kp(SDS) = (2.1 x 10(11))[H+]aq s(-1) and kp(CTAC) = (3.7 x 10(8))[H+]aq s(-1)), the difference reflecting the rate of proton entry into the micelles. In the excited singlet state, the rate constants for deprotonation of the AH+* form of HHMF are similar in the two micelles (2.4 x 10(10) s(-1)), consistent with activationless proton transfer. Reprotonation of the excited A is dominated by fast geminate recombination of the photogenerated (A*-H+) pair at the micelle surface (k(rec)(SDS) = 6.1 x 10(9) s(-1) and k(rec)(CTAC) = 3.4 x 10(10) s(-1)) and the net efficiencies of geminate recombination are quite similar in SDS (0.89) and CTAC (0.86).
2',7&... more 2',7'-Difluorofluorescein (Oregon Green 488, OG488) is a novel fluorescein dye derivative which presents important advantages for improving the fluorimetric applications in the biomedical and biochemical sciences. In aqueous solution it displays four prototropic forms, namely cation (C), neutral (N), monoanion (M), and dianion (D). In previous works, we found (J. Phys. Chem. A 2005, 109, 734-747, 2840-2846) that OG488 undergoes excited-state proton transfer reactions, which may affect the results from applications using this dye. We established that the excited-state proton transfer (ESPT) reactions between neutral, monoanionic, and dianionic forms of OG488 are promoted by acetate buffer, and we characterized the ground and excited species involved. We also solved the kinetics of the prototropic reactions using global compartmental analysis. In the present paper, we extend our study on the ESPT reactions of OG488 to acidic media, in which only the three prototropic species cation, neutral, and monoanion coexist. We have solved the kinetics of the three-state ESPT reaction by means of global three-compartmental analysis of a fluorescence decay surface in moderately acidic media (pH between 1.1 and 3.0), recovering the kinetic and spectral parameters of this three-state system. This system is one of the most complex solved to date, due to the strong overlap of the absorption and emission spectra of the neutral and monoanionic forms of OG488. We also found that the cation behaves as "super" photoacid, showing a very high deprotonation rate constant (1.04 x 10(11) s(-1)) and an enhanced acidity. Therefore, we also carried out experiments at very high perchloric acid concentrations, dealing with some other effects which become noteworthy at these [H(+)]. The presence of xanthylium cation quenching due to "free" water molecules, and the reduction in the amount of water clusters acting as proton acceptors, are processes which alter notably the time course of the excited-species in this high [H(+)] range.
ABSTRACT Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-bithiophene) (F8T2) exhibits two distinct conformations in ... more ABSTRACT Poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-bithiophene) (F8T2) exhibits two distinct conformations in solution depending on the temperature and solvent. The transition from the high- to low-temperature conformation resembles the β-phase formation of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene) (PFO), in the sense that there is an increase of the conjugation length, while involving less pronounced enthalpy and entropy changes (ΔH = −7.1 kcal/mol and ΔS = −22.9 cal/(mol K) vs ΔH = −18.0 kcal/mol and ΔS = −68.4 cal/(mol K) for PFO). The entropy loss indicates a substantial increase in the polymer order in the low-temperature conformation. Fluorescence decays of F8T2 in solvents with various viscosities, at different temperatures and collected at different emission wavelengths, are triple-exponential in character (e.g., 20, 440, and 650 ps in methylcyclohexane, at 20 °C). The two longer decay times are related to the lifetimes of the two conformations. The shorter decay time appears as either a decay or rise time, at the onset or the tail of the emission band, respectively, and is assigned to conformational relaxation on the basis of its dependence on solvent viscosity and temperature.
Two highly fluorescent mutants of ubiquitin (E51Q and E51A) were produced by mutation of a single... more Two highly fluorescent mutants of ubiquitin (E51Q and E51A) were produced by mutation of a single amino acid, demonstrating that excited-state proton transfer from the tyrosine residue to the carboxylate group of Glu-51 in ubiquitin is responsible for the reduced fluorescence of wild-type ubiquitin (wt-UBQ) at pH 5. E51A shows a Tm=59 degrees C at pH 1.5 and a Tm>80 degrees C at pH 5 similar to wt-UBQ, which shows that the mutation has not altered the protein structure significantly. The high and constant fluorescence from pH 1.5 to pH 7 allows for the study of the folding/unfolding over a wide range of pHs which would otherwise be impossible with wt-UBQ.
The red flavylium cations of anthocyanins form ground-state charge-transfer complexes with severa... more The red flavylium cations of anthocyanins form ground-state charge-transfer complexes with several naturally occurring electron-donor copigments, such as hydroxylated flavones and hydroxycinnamic or benzoic acids. Excitation of the 7-methoxy-4-methyl-flavylium-protocatechuic acid complex results in ultrafast (240 fs) internal conversion to the ground state of the complex by way of a low-lying charge-transfer state. Thus, both uncomplexed anthocyanins, whose excited state decays by fast (5-20 ps) excited-state proton transfer, and anthocyanin-copigment complexes have highly efficient mechanisms of deactivation that are consistent with the proposed protective role of anthocyanins against excess solar radiation in the vegetative tissues of plants.
The fluorescence decays of a stereoregular head-to-tail RR-HT poly(3-hexylthiophene), P3HT, in me... more The fluorescence decays of a stereoregular head-to-tail RR-HT poly(3-hexylthiophene), P3HT, in methylcyclohexane (MCH) are described by sums of three or four exponential terms, respectively above and below -10 °C. In the high-temperature region, the polymer lifetime (ca. 500 ps) is accompanied by two shorter decay times (ca. 20 and 120 ps), which are assigned to intrachain energy transfer from high to lower energy excitons on the basis of temperature and wavelength dependence of the fluorescence decays. The absence of conformational (torsional) relaxation is attributed to the small dihedral angle between monomers that is predicted for the stereoregular polymer in the ground state. Below -10 °C, the polymer forms excimer-like aggregates, showing vibrational structured absorption and emission bands similar to those observed in thin films. The vibrational structure is attributed to a deep minimum in the ground-state energy surface of the dimer or aggregate. Below -40 °C, the fluorescen...
Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids, Nov 7, 2017
The modulation of conjugated polyelectrolyte fluorescence response by nonionic surfactants is dep... more The modulation of conjugated polyelectrolyte fluorescence response by nonionic surfactants is dependent on the structures of the surfactant and polymer, polymer average molecular weight, and polyelectrolyte-surfactant interactions. In this paper, we study the effect of nonionic n-alkyl polyoxyethylene surfactants (CiEj) with different alkyl chain lengths (CiE5 with i = 6, 8, 10, and 12) and number of oxyethylene groups (C12Ej with j = 5, 7, and 9) on the photophysics and ionic conductivity of poly{[9,9-bis(6'-N,N,N-trimethylammonium)-hexyl]-2,7-fluorene-alt-1,4-phenylene}bromide (HTMA-PFP) in dimethyl sulfoxide-water 4% (v/v). Molecular dynamics simulations show that HTMA-PFP chains tend to approach as the simulation evolves. However, the minimum distance between the polymer centers of mass increases upon addition of the surfactant and grows with both the surfactant alkyl chain length and the number of oxyethylene groups, although there are no specific polymer-surfactant interac...
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Papers by antonio L macanita