Preparation and Photophysics of 2-(1-Pyrenyl)acrylic Acid and Its Methyl and 2′,2′,6′,6′-Tetramethyl-4′-Piperidyl Esters

Crystal structure of 2-(thio-phen-3-yl)ethyl pyrene-1-carboxyl-ate

In the title compound, C23H16O2S, the thio-phene group is rotationally disordered into two fractions almost parallel to each other, with occupation factors of 0.523 (7) and 0.477 (7), and subtending dihedral angles of 10.5 (5) and 9.3 (5)°, respectively, to the thio-phene group. The mol-ecules are held together by weak C-H⋯O and C-H⋯π hydrogen bonds, producing a laminar arrangement, which are further connected in a perpendicular fashion by S⋯π contacts [S⋯centroid = 3.539 (8) and 3.497 (8) Å]. In spite of the presence of the entended pyrene group, the structure does not present any parallel π-π stacking inter-actions. The structure was refined as an inversion twin.

Two-photon excited fluorescence energy transfer: a study based on oligonucleotide rulers

The use of two-photon excitation of fluorescence for detection of fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) was studied for a selected fluorescent donor-acceptor pair. A method based on labeled DNA was developed for controlling the distance between the donor and the acceptor molecules. The method consists of hybridization of fluorescent oligonucleotides to a complementary single-stranded target DNA. As the efficiency of FRET is strongly distance dependent, energy transfer does not occur unless the fluorescent oligonucleotides and the target DNA are hybridized. A high degree of DNA hybridization and an excellent FRET efficiency were verified with one-photon excited fluorescence studies. Excitation spectra of fluorophores are usually wider in case of two-photon excitation than in the case of one-photon excitation. This makes the selective excitation of donor difficult and might cause errors in detection of FRET with two-photon excited fluorescence. Different techniques to analyze the FRET efficiency from two-photon excited fluorescence data are discussed. The quenching of the donor fluorescence intensity turned to be the most consistent way to detect the FRET efficiency. The two-photon excited FRET is shown to give a good response to the distance between the donor and the acceptor molecules.

A lab-on-a-chip compatible bioaffinity assay method for human alpha-fetoprotein

A new lab-on-a-chip compatible binding assay platform is introduced. The platform combines dry-chemistry bioaffinity reagents and the recently introduced ArcDia TPX binding assay technique. The technique employs polymer microspheres as a solid phase reaction carrier, fluorescently labeled antibody conjugates, and detection of fluorescence emission from the surface of individual microspheres by two-photon excitation fluorescence. Signal response of the technique is independent of the reaction volume, thus the technique is particularly well suited for detection of bioaffinity reactions from miniature volumes. Performance of the new assay platform is studied by means of an immunometric assay of human alpha-fetoprotein (hAFP) in 384-plate format, and the results are compared to those of a corresponding wet-chemistry assay method. The results show that the ArcDia TPX detection technique can be combined with dry-chemistry reagents without compromises in assay performance. The microchip field has so far been characterized with a lack of microchip-compatible detection platforms which would allow cost-effective microchip design and sensitive bioaffinity detection. The presented detection technique is expected to provide a solution for this shortage.