A Quantum-Chemical Study of Tautomeric Equilibria of Fluorescein Dyes in DMSO

Photocross-Linked Antimicrobial Amino-Siloxane Elastomers

Mechanically robust bulk antimicrobial polymers are one way to address disease transmission via contaminated surfaces. Here, we demonstrate the visible light photo-oxidative cross-linking of amine-containing PDMS using a single-component, solvent-free system where amines have a dual role as antimicrobial functionalities and cross-linking sites. Rose Bengal, a xanthene dye used as a fluorescent stain, is thermally reacted with the polymer to give a solvent-free liquid siloxane that can generate reactive singlet oxygen upon aerobic green light irradiation, coupling the amine functionalities into imine cross-links. Photorheological experiments demonstrate that light intensity is the largest kinetic factor in the photo-oxidative curing of these polymers. Room temperature irradiation under an ambient atmosphere results in free-standing elastic materials with mechanical properties that depend on the amount of Rose Bengal present. An ultimate elongation strain of 117% and Young's modulus of 2.15 MPa were observed for the highest dye loading, with both mechanical properties found to be higher than those for the same solution-based dye amounts. We demonstrate that the solvent-free nature of the material can be exploited to generate 3D structures using low-temperature deposition as well as direct-write patterning and photolithography on glass substrates. The antimicrobial activity was investigated, with the cross-linked material demonstrating greater efficacy against E. coli (Gram negative) compared with MRSA (Gram positive) bacterial strains and inducing complete cell lysis of incubated CHO-K1 mammalian cells, demonstrating applicability as a mechanically robust single-component antimicrobial elastomer.

Aminofluoresceins Versus Fluorescein: Ascertained New Unusual Features of Tautomerism and Dissociation of Hydroxyxanthene Dyes in Solution

Within the course of this spectroscopic research, we revealed novel features of the protolytic behavior, which extend the knowledge of the chemistry of xanthene dyes and rationalize the utilization of these compounds. In addition to the well-known tautomerism of the molecular form, H₂R, of fluorescein dyes, new aspects of tautomeric transformation of anions are disclosed. First, for the dyes bearing the substituents in the phthalic acid residue, 4'- and 5'-aminofluoresceins and 4'-fluorescein isothiocyanate, the monoanion HR^- exists in non-hydrogen-bond donor solvents not only as a tautomer with the ionized carboxylic and nonionized OH group but also as a "phenolate" ion with a nonionized COOH group. Such state of HR^- ions is typical for dyes bearing halogen atoms or NO₂ groups in the xanthene moiety but was not observed until now in the case of substitution in the phthalic residue. Second, the possibility of the existence of the HR^- species in DMSO in the form of colorless lactone is deduced for the 5'-aminofluorescein using the visible and infrared spectra. This results in a dramatic difference in medium effects. For instance, whereas for fluorescein in DMSO, the inversion of the stepwise ionization constants takes place and the K_a1/K_a2 value equals 0.08, the same ratio for 5'-aminofluorescein is as high as ∼800. In addition, the pK_a values of sulfonefluorescein, erythrosin, methyl ether of fluorescein, and phenol red were obtained to verify the acidity scale in DMSO and to support the detailed scheme of protolytic equilibria of fluorescein dyes.

Experimental and computational studies of protolytic and tautomeric equilibria of Erythrosin B and Eosin Y in water/DMSO

The pK_a of Eosin Y and Erythrosin B were experimentally and computationally studied in water/DMSO mixtures using UV-Vis spectra, orbital and electrostatic properties to understand the tautomers contribution in the protolithic equilibria.

Ionization and tautomerism of methyl fluorescein and related dyes

The protolytic equilibrium of methyl ether of fluorescein is studied in water, aqueous ethanol, and in other solvents. The constants of the two-step dissociation are determined by spectrophotometry. In water, the fractions of the zwitterionic, quinonoid, and lactonic tautomes are correspondingly 11%, 6%, and 83%, as deduced from the UV-visible spectra. Corresponding study of the ionization of the methyl ether ester of fluorescein, fluorescein ethyl ester, and sulfonefluorescein allows testing the correction of the attribution of the microscopic dissociation constants of methoxy fluorescein. The results of nuclear magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy, as well as the X-ray analysis confirm the predomination of the lactonic structure of the molecular species in solid state and in DMSO. Contrary to it, the spectroscopic studies in both hydrogen-donor bond (HDB) and non-HBD solvents confirm that the presence of lactonic monoanion is atypical for the dye under study and, with high probability, also for the mother compound fluorescein.