Modulation of the chemiluminescent signal from N10-(3-sulfopropyl)-N-sulfonylacridinium-9-carboxamides

Crystal structure of 9-aminoacridinium chloride N,N-dimethylformamide monosolvate

9-Aminoacridinium chloride N,N-dimethylformamide monosolvate, C13H11N2 +Cl−·C3H7NO, crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/c. The salt was crystallized from N,N-dimethylformamide. The asymmetric unit consists of two C13H11N2 +Cl− formula units. The 9-aminoacridinium (9-AA) molecules are protonated with the proton on the N atom of the central ring. This N atom is connected to an N,N-dimethylformamide molecule by a hydrogen bond. The H atoms of the amino groups create short contacts with two chloride ions. The 9-AA cations in adjacent layers are oriented in an antiparallel manner. The molecules are linked via a network of multidirectional π–π interactions between the 9-AA rings, and the whole lattice is additionally stabilized by electrostatic interactions between ions.

Acridone and acridinium constructs with red-shifted emission

Acridinium 9-carboxylic acid derivatives have been extensively used as chemiluminescent labels in diagnostic assays. Triggering acridinium with basic hydrogen peroxide produces a highly strained dioxetanone intermediate, which converts into an acridone in an electronically excited state and emits light at 420-440 nm. Here, we introduce a novel acridinium-fluorescein construct emitting at 530 nm, in which fluorescein is covalently attached to the acridinium N-10 nitrogen via a propyl sulfonamide linker. To characterize the spectral properties of the acridinium-fluorescein chemiluminophores, we synthesized the analogous acridone-fluorescein constructs. Both acridinium and acridone were linked to either 5- or 6-carboxyfluorescein and independently synthesized as individual structural isomers. Using fluorescent acridone-fluorophore tandems, we investigated and optimized the diluent composition to prevent dye aggregation. As monomolecular species, the acridone isomers demonstrated similar absorption, excitation, and emission spectra, as well as the expected fluorescence lifetimes and molecular brightness. Chemical triggering of acridinium-fluorescein tandems, as well as direct excitation of their acridone-fluorescein analogs, resulted in a nearly complete energy transfer from acridone to fluorescein. Acridone-based dyes can be studied with steady-state spectroscopy. Thus, they will serve as useful tools for structure and solvent optimizations, as well as for studying chemiluminescent energy transfer mechanisms in related acridinium-fluorophore tandems. Direct investigations of the light-emitting molecules generated in the acridinium chemiluminescent reaction empower further development of chemiluminescent labels with red-shifted emission. As illustrated by the two-color HIV model immunoassay, such labels can find immediate applications for multicolor detection in clinical diagnostic assays.

Photoinduced Betaine Generation for Efficient Photothermal Energy Conversion

The conversion of solar energy to thermal, chemical, or electrical energy attracts great attention in chemistry and physics. There has been a considerable effort for the efficient extraction of photons throughout the entire solar spectrum. In this work light energy was efficiently harvested by using a long-lived betaine photogenerated from an acridinium-based electron donor-acceptor dyad. The photothermal energy-conversion efficiency of the dyad is significantly enhanced by simultaneous illumination with blue (420-440 nm) and yellow (>480 nm) light in comparison with the sum of the conversion efficiencies for individual illumination with blue or yellow light. The enhanced photothermal effect is due to the photogenerated betaine, which absorbs longer-wavelength light than the dyad, and thus the dyad-betaine combination is promising for efficient photothermal energy conversion. The mechanisms of betaine generation and energy conversion are discussed on the basis of steady-state and transient spectral measurements.

A review on acridinylthioureas and its derivatives: biological and cytotoxic activity

Acridines possess two characteristics that have led many researchers to consider the agents interesting targets for future development as potential farmacophores: the planar acridine skeleton, which is able to intercalate into DNA, and the intense fluorescence of the agents. This review offers a study of the multifunctional character of acridines and the synthesis of novel acridine derivatives, with particular focus being placed on isothiocyanates and their congeners, e.g. thioureas, isothioureas, quaternary ammonium salts and platinum/gold conjugates. The review provides an overview of the structure, spectral properties, DNA binding and biological activity of acridinylthiourea congeners. These acridinylthiourea derivatives display significant cytotoxic activities against different types of cancer cell lines at micromolar concentrations. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Spectrophotometric determination of the dissociation constants of crown ethers with grafted acridone unit in methanol based on Benesi-Hildebrand evaluation

As potential chromo- and fluorophores for optical sensors a number of acridone grafted crown ethers containing NO2 group(s) and/or Br or Cl atom(s) in the aromatic rings (compounds) were studied by spectrophotometric method. In the first step of this work the acid-base and complexing properties of these compounds as well as those of the acridone, thioacridone and 4,5-dinitroacridone were investigated. Compounds proved to be very week acids and therefore the conventional spectrophotometric method based on the measurement of the ratio of the protonated/deprotonated forms of the compounds was not applicable for the determination of the dissociation constants (pKa values). Thus, a new spectrophotometric approach was elaborated for the pKa determination of these compounds, which is based on spectrophotometric titration in methanol with strong base and the titration results were evaluated by the Benesi-Hildebrand method. (In the studies with TEAOH, TMAOH and LiOMe, the complex formation between the ionophores and the cations of the bases could be excluded.) As it was expected, the experimentally determined pKa values depended on the nature of the substituents of the acridone moiety and pKa values ranged between 12.6 and 14.9. The lower pKa value of thioacridone compared to the acridone can be explained by the larger size of the sulfur atom. The outstandingly larger pKa value for 4,5-dinitroacridone can be attributed to the formation of intramolecular hydrogen-bonds between the ortho-position nitro group and the NH proton. As a trend, the strong electron withdrawing nitro substituents decreased considerably the pKa values of compounds and compared to that of the halogen (Cl and Br) atoms (for example compounds and) of weaker withdrawing effect.

Intrinsic factor-mediated modulation of cyanocobalamin–N-sulfonyl-acridinium-9-carboxamide chemiluminescence

Two cyanocobalamin-N-sulfonyl-acridinium-9-carboxamides with linkage through the N(10) or 9-position were prepared from B(12)-e-carboxylic acid. The noncovalent association of intrinsic factor with these ligands resulted in specific modulation of the associated chemiluminescence signal either by quenching or changing the emission profile. Either effect was sufficient to formulate a homogeneous assay to detect vitamin B(12) in buffer.

Quantitative determination of noncovalently bound acridinium in protein conjugates by liquid chromatography/electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry

A sensitive and robust liquid chromatography/electrospray ion trap mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS) method has been developed for the quantitative determination of noncovalently bound acridinium free acid in protein-acridinium conjugates. The lower level of quantitation (LOQ) for acridinium free acid was determined to be 0.6 ng. The assay was validated with a linear concentration range of 0.6-60 ng. The method requires minimum sample handling and is specific, reproducible, and provides a new aspect for protein-acridinium conjugate characterization.