Design strategies for water-soluble small molecular chromogenic and fluorogenic probes.

Absorption and fluorescence properties of fluorescein

The metalloneurochemistry of Zn(II) is of substantial current interest. Zinc is the second most abundant d-block metal ion in the human brain, and its distribution varies with relatively high concentrations found in the hippocampus. Brain zinc is generally divided into two types, protein-bound and loosely bound, the latter also being termed histochemically observable, chelatable, labile, or mobile zinc. The neurophysiological and neuropathological significance of mobile Zn(II) remains enigmatic. Studies of Zn(II) distribution, translocation, and function in vivo require tools for its detection. Because Zn(II) has a closed-shell d10 configuration and no convenient spectroscopic signature, fluorescence is a well-suited method for monitoring Zn(II) in biological contexts. This Account summarizes work by our laboratory addressing the design, preparation, characterization, and use of small-molecule fluorescent sensors for imaging Zn(II) in living cells and samples of brain tissue. These sensors provide “turn-o...

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Small-molecule fluorescent sensors for investigating zinc metalloneurochemistry.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses acid–base properties of electronically excited states of organic molecules. Excited state pK-values are most easily accessible through the use of the Forster cycle. To perform this calculation for a particular molecule, it is necessary to know the ground state equilibrium constant for the reaction in question and to have some measure of the energy difference between the lowest vibrational level of the ground and the excited state in both the B and BH + forms. The effects of solvation on 0–0 energies are discussed. The changes in molecular fluorescence with acidity give information about the protolytic behavior of the excited singlet state of a compound. Two techniques, phase and pulse fluorometry, are used for the direct measurement of fluorescence decay rates. The excited state acid-base behavior of molecules has direct implications in the field of analytical fluorimetry and phosphorimetry.

Larry Gordon

Papers

Acid-base equilibriums of fluorescein and 2',7'-dichlorofluorescein in their ground and fluorescent states

Saeure-base-gleichgewichte von fluorescein und 2′,7′-dichlorfluorescein in ihren grund- und fluoreszenzzustaenden