Principal Component Analysis of the Absorption Spectra of the Dye Thiacyanine in the Presence of the Surfactant AOT: Precise Identification of the Dye-Surfactant Aggregates

Photophysics of the interaction between a fluorescein derivative and Ficoll

Ficoll has been widely used as a crowding agent to mimic intracellular media because it is believed to be noninteracting and is composed of mixed sizes such that smaller and larger diffusing solutes can be studied. Due to the interest that the fluorescent dye 9-[1-(2-methyl-4-methoxyphenyl)]-6-hydroxy-3H-xanthen-3-one (TG-II) as a fluorometric probe of phosphate ions in intracellular media could generate, we describe the spectral characteristics of the system TG-II-Ficoll in aqueous solution by means of absorption spectroscopy, steady-state fluorescence, time-resolved fluorescence, time-resolved emission spectroscopy, and fluorescence lifetime correlation spectroscopy. The spectral characteristics found are consistent with the formation of an adsorption complex on the surface of Ficoll, probably due to hydrogen bonding between TG-II and Ficoll. In addition, the diffusion coefficient calculated for the association was similar to the diffusion coefficient previously recovered for Ficoll in the same experimental conditions. Therefore, our overall data clearly demonstrate that Ficoll is not an inert crowding agent when in the presence of fluorescein derivative dyes.

Kinetics of bacterial fluorescence staining with 3,3'-diethylthiacyanine

For more than a century, colorimetric and fluorescence staining have been the foundation of a broad range of key bioanalytical techniques. The dynamics of such staining processes, however, still remains largely unexplored. We investigated the kinetics of fluorescence staining of two gram-negative and two gram-positive species with 3,3'-diethylthiacyanine (THIA) iodide. An increase in the THIA fluorescence quantum yield, induced by the bacterial dye uptake, was the principal reason for the observed emission enhancement. The fluorescence quantum yield of THIA depended on the media viscosity and not on the media polarity, which suggested that the microenvironment of the dye molecules taken up by the cells was restrictive. The kinetics of fluorescence staining did not manifest a statistically significant dependence neither on the dye concentration, nor on the cell count. In the presence of surfactant additives, however, the fluorescence-enhancement kinetic patterns manifested species specificity with statistically significant discernibility.

Spectroscopic studies of the interaction between methylene blue-naphthol orange complex and anionic and cationic surfactants

Initially, the absorbance of MB at 665 nm decreased rapidly with increasing sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) concentration, but increased gradually above about 2.3x10(-3) M. However, the absorbance of MB was almost independent of the cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) concentration. On the other hand, the absorbance of NpO was affected by addition of CTAB in a similar manner to the change in MB-SDS system, but not by addition of SDS. The absorption band of MB showed a small red-shift and a decrease in intensity upon addition of NpO, while that of NpO showed only the decrease in the intensity upon the addition of MB. These spectral changes were attributed to the formation of complexes between these dyes. The effects of anionic and cationic surfactants on the absorption spectra of mixtures of MB and NpO were also examined. Contrary to the effects on the absorption spectrum of MB and NpO, respectively, the absorbances of MB and NpO in the mixtures were changed with the additions of both anionic and cationic surfactants. The spectral changes were explained by changes in the forms of MB and NpO in the solutions with increasing surfactant concentrations.

Fluorescence of acridinic dyes in anionic surfactant solution

The interaction of the cationic dyes acridine, 9-aminoacridine (9AA), and proflavine, with sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) was studied by electronic absorption, steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopies. The dyes interact with SDS in the pre-micellar region leading in two cases to dimerization in dye-surfactant aggregates, but with distinct molecular arrangements. For proflavine, the observed red shift of the electronic absorption band indicates the presence of J-aggregate, which are nonfluorescent. In the case of 9AA, the aggregates were characterized as nonspecific (neither J- nor H-type is spectroscopically observed). The time-resolved emission spectra gives evidences of the presence of weakly bound dimers by the recovery of three defined decay times by global analysis: dye monomer (tau1 = 16.4 ns), dimer (tau2 = 7.1 ns), and a faster component (tau3 = 2.1 ns) ascribed to intracluster energy migration between monomer and dimer. Acridine has a weak interaction with SDS forming only an ion pair without further self-aggregation of the dye.

Complex formation between dodecylpyridinium chloride and multicharged anionic planar substances

The complex formation between dodecylpyridinium chloride (DPC) and multicharged anionic planar substances, 14 azo dyes and 3 benzene- or naphthalenesulfonates, has been studied by the potentiometric titration using a surfactant selective electrode. The agreement between the observed maximum binding number and the number of anionic charges (n) on dye molecules showed n:1 complex formation. The binding isotherms were found to be composed of two types of binding; one is the noncooperative binding observed at low surfactant concentrations and the other is the cooperative binding at the higher concentrations. The microscopic binding constant for the noncooperative binding was found to take the values in the range of 50-200 mol(-)(1) dm(3) for many of the substances, but, takes more large values up to 2500 mol(-)(1) dm(3) for the substances which have a large hydrophobic part or the structure of separate hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions. A multiple regression analysis showed that the data of the corresponding standard free energy change of binding were well interpreted by the equation (in unit of kJ mol(-)(1)) DeltaG degrees = - 5.85 log P(S) - 1.68 log P(D) - 2.12z + 28.4, where P(S) and P(D) are the partition coefficients of the surfactants and planar substances in the 1-octanol/water system and z is the number of anionic charges on the planar molecules. At the beginning of the cooperative binding, precipitate formation was observed for almost all of the present systems. Among these, some of the dyes having the structure of separate hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions formed a needlelike crystal, which was accompanied by a hysteresis phenomenon in the binding isotherm. The stable complex formation by both the hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions between the surfactant and the planar substances was found to be important for the crystal formation. Depending on the manner of arrangement of the charged groups on the planar substances, the origin of the binding cooperativity was ascribed to the interactions between surfactants bound to one planar-substance molecule or to the association of the complexes. It was also found that the present small binding systems are useful as the model of ligand binding to protein local structures.

Spectral studies of safranin-O in different surfactant solutions

The interaction of Safranin-O (SO), a cationic dye, with various surfactants viz., anionics; Sodiumdodecylsulfate (SDS) and Sodiumdodecylsulfonate (SDSo), nonionics; polyoxyethylenesorbitanmonolaurate (Tween 20) and polyoxyethylenedodecylether (Brij 35), cationic; Dodecyltrimethylammoniumbromide (DTAB) and zwitterionic; Laurylsulfobetaine (LSB) was studied spectrophotometrically as a function of surfactant concentration ranging from premicellar to postmicellar region in aqueous media in the absence and presence of cosolvents. The binding constants (K(b)) and fraction of bound SO to micelles (f), were calculated by means of Benesi-Hildebrand Equation. The binding tendency of SO to micelles followed the order as; Tween 20>Brij 35>SDS>SDSo>LSB. The presence of cosolvents, such as Methanol, Dimethylformamide (DMFA) and 1,4 Dioxan (DX) at various volume percentages, increased the CMC of both SDS and Tween 20 and at a certain concentration totally inhibited the micellization. The binding of SO to micelles decreased as the concentration of the cosolvents increased. This inhibitory effect of cosolvents on binding of SO to micelles followed the order as; Methanol>DMFA>DX.

Chemical Interaction between Nonionic Surfactants and an Acid Dye

Complexation of the dye Direct Red 1 with a series of laurylamine surfactants with varying number of ethylene oxide units has been studied by voltammetry. From the measurement of the cathodic current of both dye and surfactant, the stability constants of the established equilibrium between the dye D, the surfactant S, and the dye-surfactant complex D-S can be calculated. The values of the stability constant K at 25 degrees C calculated for a defined dye-surfactant stoichiometry depend on the number of ethylene oxide units incorporated by the surfactant. These constants decrease by one order of magnitude at 60 degrees C maintaining the dependence on the number of ethylene oxide units. Copyright 2001 Academic Press.

Studies on the Interaction of Surfactants with Cationic Dye by Absorption Spectroscopy

The interaction of methyl violet, a cationic dye, with various surfactants, viz. anionic (SDS), nonionic (Triton X-100), and cationic (CTAB), has been investigated spectrophotometrically in submicellar and micellar concentration range. While in the submicellar concentration region of SDS the higher aggregates of the dye are found, in the micellar concentration region the monomer of the dye predominates. With nonionic surfactant the dye is solubilized primarily as the monomer. CTAB produces no perturbation to the visible spectra of the dye. In the presence of strong electrolytes such as NaNO(3) and NaCl the dye aggregates are formed at a much lower SDS concentrations. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.

Application of Multiple Linear Regression and Extended Principal-Component Analysis to Determination of the Acid Dissociation Constant of 7-Hydroxycoumarin in Water/AOT/Isooctane Reverse Micelles

The apparent pK(a) of dyes in water-in-oil microemulsions depends on the charge of the acid and base forms of the buffers present in the water pool. Extended principal-component analysis allows the precise determination of the apparent pK(a) and of the spectra of the acid and base forms of the dye. Combination with multiple linear regression increases the precision. The pK(a) of 7-hydroxycoumarin (umbelliferone) was spectrophotometrically measured in a water/AOT/isooctane microemulsion in the presence of a series of buffers carrying different charges at various different water/surfactant ratios. The spectra of the acid and base forms of the dye in the microemulsion are very similar to those in bulk water in the presence of Tris and ammonia. The presence of carbonate changes somewhat the spectrum of the acid form. Results are discussed taking into account the profile of the electrostatic potential drop in the water pool and the possible partition of umbelliferone between the aqueous core and the surfactant. The pK(a) values corrected for these effects are independent of w(0) and are close to the value of the pK(a) in bulk water. Copyright 2000 Academic Press.