Rotational and vibrational dynamics in the excited electronic state of deprotonated and protonated fluorescein studied by time-resolved photofragmentation in an ion trap

Unravelling the Turn-On Fluorescence Mechanism of a Fluorescein-Based Probe in GABAA Receptors

GABAA (γ-aminobutyric acid type A) receptors are ligand-gated ion channels mediating fast inhibitory transmission in the mammalian brain. Here we report the molecular and electronic mechanism governing the turn-on emission of a fluorescein-based imaging probe able to target the human GABAA receptor. Multiscale calculations evidence a drastic conformational change of the probe from folded in solution to extended upon binding to the receptor. Intramolecular ππ-stacking interactions present in the folded probe are responsible for quenching fluorescence in solution. In contrast, unfolding within the GABAA receptor changes the nature of the bright excited state triggering emission. Remarkably, this turn-on effect only manifests for the dianionic prototropic form of the imaging probe, which is found to be the strongest binder to the GABAA receptor. This study is expected to assist the design of new photoactivatable screening tools for allosteric modulators of the GABAA receptor.

Unravelling the Turn‐On Fluorescence Mechanism of a Fluorescein‐Based Probe in GABA A Receptors

GABA_A (γ‐aminobutyric acid type A) receptors are ligand‐gated ion channels mediating fast inhibitory transmission in the mammalian brain. Here we report the molecular and electronic mechanism governing the turn‐on emission of a fluorescein‐based imaging probe able to target the human GABA_A receptor. Multiscale calculations evidence a drastic conformational change of the probe from folded in solution to extended upon binding to the receptor. Intramolecular ππ‐stacking interactions present in the folded probe are responsible for quenching fluorescence in solution. In contrast, unfolding within the GABA_A receptor changes the nature of the bright excited state triggering emission. Remarkably, this turn‐on effect only manifests for the dianionic prototropic form of the imaging probe, which is found to be the strongest binder to the GABA_A receptor. This study is expected to assist the design of new photoactivatable screening tools for allosteric modulators of the GABA_A receptor.

Gas-phase action and fluorescence spectroscopy of mass-selected fluorescein monoanions and two derivatives

Gaseous fluorescein monoanions are weakly fluorescent; they display a broad fluorescence spectrum and a large Stokes shift. This contrasts with the situation in aqueous solution. One explanation of the intriguing behavior in vacuo is based on internal proton transfer from the pendant carboxyphenyl group to one of the xanthene oxygens in the excited state; another that rotation of the carboxyphenyl group relative to the xanthene leads to a partial charge transfer from one chromophore (xanthene) to the other (carboxyphenyl) when the π orbitals start to overlap. To shed light on the mechanism at play, we synthesized two fluorescein derivatives where the carboxylic acid group is replaced with either an ester or a tertiary amide functionality and explored their gas-phase ion fluorescence using the home-built LUminescence iNstrument in Aarhus (LUNA) setup. Results on the fluorescein methyl ester that has no acidic proton clearly disprove the former explanation: The spectrum remains broad, and the band center (at 605 nm) is shifted even more to the red than that of fluorescein (590 nm). Experiments on the other variant that contains a piperidino amide are also in favor of the second explanation as here the piperidino already causes the dihedral angle between the planes defining the xanthene and the benzene ring to be less than 90° in the ground state (i.e., 63°), according to density functional theory calculations. As a result of the closer similarity between the ground-state and excited-state structures, the fluorescence spectrum is narrower than those of the other two ions, and the band maximum is further to the blue (575 nm). In accordance with a more delocalized ground state of the amide derivative, action spectra associated with photoinduced dissociation recorded at another setup show that the absorption-band maximum for the amide derivative is redshifted compared to that of fluorescein (538 nm vs. 525 nm).

Rotational and vibrational dynamics in the excited electronic state of deprotonated and protonated fluorescein studied by time-resolved photofragmentation in an ion trap

Excited state dynamics of deprotonated and protonated fluorescein were investigated by polarization dependent femtosecond time-resolved pump-probe photofragmentation in a 3D ion trap. Transients of deprotonated fluorescein exhibit vibrational wavepacket dynamics with weak polarization dependence. Transients of protonated fluorescein show only effects of molecular alignment and rotational dephasing. The time resolved rotational anisotropy of protonated fluorescein is simulated by the calculated orientational correlation function. The observed differences between deprotonated and protonated fluorescein are ascribed to their different higher lying electronically excited states and corresponding structures. This is partially supported by time-dependent density functional theory calculations of the excited state structures.