Interaction of alkyl chain containing pyrene derivatives with different micellar media: Synthesis and photophysical study

The present work describes the synthesis and photophysical studies of four newly synthesized alkyl chain containing pyrene derivatives and their applications in micellization process of different types of surfactants e.g. CTAB and SDS. The fluorescent properties of these pyrene derivatives were utilized to understand the micellization process of CTAB and SDS. The length of alkyl chain affects the hydrophobicity of pyrene fluorophore which also affects the sensitivity of fluorophore towards the micellization of CTAB and SDS surfactants. The longest alkyl tail containing, PBBU showed more sensitivity whereas moderate alkyl chain containing, PABU and PBME showed moderate sensitivity and finally PAME contained smallest alkyl tail, showed no sensitivity towards the micellization of CTAB and SDS. The alkyl tail of fluorophore make it more hydrophobic and it could easily bind with the hydrophobic inner core of micelles. In both surfactants, PBBU showed LE emission at ~400 nm and aggregate emission at ~470 nm, whereas, PABU and PBME showed LE emission band at ~400 nm. Before CMC, the aggregates band of PBBU increased with increasing the surfactant concentrations, but after CMC the individual PBBU present into the water medium could binds with the inner core of micelles. Thus PBBU senses the formation of premicellar aggregates of CTAB and SDS. The LE emission of the fluorophore gradually increases while increasing the CTAB and SDS concentrations. The change in fluorescence emission of PABU, PBME and PBBU with increasing concentration of CTAB and SDS were used to calculate the CMC of CTAB and SDS surfactants.

Hydrogen bonded dimers of ketocoumarin in the solid state and alcohol:water binary solvent: fluorescence spectroscopy, crystal structure and DFT investigation

Fluorescence emission spectrum of ketocoumarin dimers in an alcohol:water binary mixture and the solid state.

Cyclodextrin-Promoted Fluorescence Detection of Aromatic Toxicants and Toxicant Metabolites in Commercial Milk Products

The detection of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their metabolites in food and in agricultural sources is an important research objective due to the PAHs' known persistence, carcinogenicity, and toxicity. PAHs have been found in the milk of lactating cows, and in the leaves and stems of plants grown in PAH-contaminated areas, thereby making their way into both cow milk and plant milk alternatives. Reported herein is the rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of 10 PAHs and PAH metabolites in a variety of cow milks and plant milk alternatives using fluorescence energy transfer from the PAH to a high quantum yield fluorophore, combined with subsequent array-based statistical analyses of the fluorescence emission signals. This system operates with high sensitivity (low micromolar detection limits), selectivity (100% differentiation even between structurally similar analytes), and general applicability (for both unmodified lipophilic PAHs and highly polar oxidized PAH metabolites, as well as for different cow and plant milk samples). These promising results show significant potential to be translated into solid-state devices for the rapid, sensitive, and selective detection of PAHs and their metabolites in complex, commercial food products.

Nile red fluorescence for quantitative monitoring of micropolarity and microviscosity of pluronic F127 in aqueous media

The photophysical behaviour and excited state decay kinetics of the fluorescent probe Nile red were used for quantitative monitoring of micropolarity, microviscosity and the sol-gel transition temperature of a copolymer hydrogel, pluronic F127. There was considerable enhancement of the emission intensity with a large blue shift in emission and an absorption maximum at and above the sol-gel transition temperature (20 °C), showing the sensitivity of Nile red fluorescence to the sol-gel transition. The estimation of micropolarity by comparing the Nile red emission maximum in dioxane-water mixtures suggested a considerable decrease in the polarity of the PF127 microenvironment from less polar (20% dioxane-water) in its sol phase to almost non-polar (90% dioxane-water) microenvironments in the gel phase. The thermotropic response of the wavelength dependent fluorescence lifetime of the probe with a rise time in the longer wavelength region has enabled monitoring of the microheterogeneity of the gel medium. With an increase in temperature, the microviscosity progressively increases from ∼10 mPa s (sol state) to ∼23 mPa s (gel state). The mismatch between microviscosity as estimated by the Nile red and the corresponding bulk viscosity reflected the microheterogeneity of the pluronic medium and its sensitivity towards PF127 microenvironments.

Monitoring thermo-reversible dehydration of the pluronic microenvironment using 4-chloro-1-naphthol as an ESPT fluorescent molecular probe

An ESPT fluorescent molecular probe, 4-chloro-1-naphthol, has been employed to study the thermo-reversible sol–gel transition, dehydration and micro-polarity of pluronics.