Fluorescence probing in aqueous micellar systems: an overview

Interfacial and Solution Aggregation Behavior of a Series of Bioinspired Rhamnolipid Congeners Rha-C14-Cx (x = 6, 8, 10, 12, 14)

Rhamnolipids are glycolipids produced by microorganisms with outstanding surfactant properties. They are a class of biosurfactants that are potential candidates for biodegradable and nontoxic replacements of current specialty synthetic surfactants. Building on our previous efforts in developing an efficient and practical chemical methodology to synthesize rhamnolipids allows us to now explore the tunability of rhamnolipid properties. Here, we explore the impact on solution self-assembly and adsorption at the air/water interface of symmetry of the two lipid tails for diastereomeric mixtures of a series of monorhamnolipids of the generic structure Rha-C14-Cx. Surface activity of the anionic forms of these molecules at pH 8 is described by surface tensiometry. Characteristics of their aggregation behavior in aqueous solutions including hydrodynamic radius, aggregation number, and aggregate morphology are determined using dynamic light scattering and time-resolved fluorescence quenching spectroscopy. The solution aggregation behavior of this series is found to unexpectedly vary in a nonmonotonic fashion. This is explained by molecular structural attributes of each series member that result in differences in the respective intermolecular interactions of various parts of these surfactants.

The cmc-value of a bolalipid with two phosphocholine headgroups and a C24 alkyl chain: Unusual binding properties of fluorescence probes to bolalipid aggregates

Bolalipids with a long alkyl chain and two phosphocholine polar groups self-assemble in water into two different types of aggregate structures, namely helical nanofibers at low temperature and two types of micellar aggregates at higher temperature. We tried to determine the critical aggregation concentration (cac) or critical micellar concentration (cmc) of the bolalipid tetracosane-1,24-bis(phosphocholine) (PC-C24-PC) by using different fluorescent probes. The use of pyrene or pyrene derivatives as fluorophores failed, whereas the probes 1,8-ANS and particularly bis-ANS gave consistent results. The structure of the bolalipid aggregates obviously hinders partitioning or binding of pyrene derivatives into the micellar interior, whereas 1,8-ANS and bis-ANS can bind to the surface of the aggregate structures. The observed large increase in fluorescence intensity of bis-ANS indicates that binding to the hydrophobic surface of the aggregates leads to a reduction of the dye mobility. However, binding of bis-ANS is relatively weak, so that the determination of a cac/cmc-value is difficult. Simulations of the intensity curves for PC-C24-PC lead to estimates of the cac/cmc-value of 0.3-1.0×10^-6M, depending on the structure of the aggregates. Single molecule fluorescence correlation spectroscopy was used to determine the mobility of bis-ANS as a function of concentration of PC-C24-PC. The dye diffusion time and the molecular brightness are lower at low bolalipid concentration, when only free dye is present, and increase at higher concentration when bis-ANS is bound to the aggregates. The experimental cac/cmc-values are higher than those estimated, using an incremental method for the change in Gibbs free energy for micellization with n-alkyl-phosphocholines with only one polar group as a comparison. Apparently, for PC-C24-PC in micellar or fibrous aggregates, more CH₂ groups are exposed to water than in a conventional micelle of an n-alkyl-phosphocholine.

Fluorescence emission of pyrene in surfactant solutions

The systematic description of the complex photophysical behaviour of pyrene in surfactant solutions in combination with a quantitative model for the surfactant concentrations reproduces with high accuracy the steady-state and the time resolved fluorescence intensity of pyrene in surfactant solutions near the cmc, both in the monomer and in the excimer emission bands. We present concise model equations that can be used for the analysis of the pyrene fluorescence intensity in order to estimate fundamental parameters of the pyrene-surfactant system, such as the binding equilibrium constant K of pyrene to a given surfactant micelle, the rate constant of excimer formation in micelles, and the equilibrium constant of pyrene-surfactant quenching. The values of the binding equilibrium constant K(TX100)=3300·10³ M⁻¹ and K(SDS)=190·10³ M⁻¹ for Triton X-100 (TX100) and SDS micelles, respectively, show that the partition of pyrene between bulk water and micelles cannot be ignored, even at relatively high surfactant concentrations above the cmc. We apply the model to the determination of the cmc from the pyrene fluorescence intensity, especially from the intensity ratio at two vibronic bands in the monomer emission or from the ratio of excimer to monomer emission intensity. We relate the finite width of the transition region below and above the cmc with the observed changes in the pyrene fluorescence in this region.

A novel micellar PEGylated hyperbranched polyester as a prospective drug delivery system for paclitaxel

A hyperbranched aliphatic polyester has been functionalized with PEG chains to afford a novel water-soluble BH40-PEG polymer which exhibits unimolecular micellar properties, and is therefore appropriate for application as a drug-delivery system. The solubility of the anticancer drug paclitaxel was enhanced by a factor of 35, 110, 230, and 355 in aqueous solutions of BH40-PEG of 10, 30, 60, and 90 mg x mL(-1), respectively. More than 50% of the drug is released at a steady rate and release is almost complete within 10 h. The toxicity of BH40-PEG was assessed in vitro with A549 human lung carcinoma cells and found to be nontoxic for 3 h incubation up to a 1.75 mg x mL(-1) concentration while LD50 was 3.5 mg x mL(-1). Finally, it was efficiently internalized in cells, primarily in the absence of foetal bovine serum, while confocal microscopy revealed the preferential localization of the compound in cell nuclei. [Figure: see text].

Fusion-Fission Transport of Probes and Quenchers in Microdomains of an Amphiphilic Ionene Polyelectrolyte†

In aqueous solution, amphiphilic ionenes such as the [3,22]-ionene spontaneously adopt globular conformations and form microdomains that are highly micelle-like, i.e. are capable of solubilizing organic molecules, binding and exchanging counterions and accelerating or inhibiting the rates of bimolecular reactions. Time-resolved fluorescence decay of pyrene and pyrene derivatives solubilized in these microdomains at concentrations where excimer formation occurs show that even water-insoluble probes can migrate between the hydrophobic microdomains formed in aqueous solution by a [3,22]-ionene chloride (with the N-terminal groups quaternized with benzyl chloride). Time-resolved studies of the quenching of pyrene fluorescence by alkylpyridine derivatives revealed similar behavior. The observed quenching behavior requires that the migration be between microdomains on the same ionene chain or same group of associated ionene chains and is consistent with migration dominated by fusion/fission transport of the probe and quencher.

Use of Luminescence Probing for the Study of the Interaction of Polytitanasiloxane with Trivalent Rare Earth Ions

Luminescent probing methods were employed to investigate the interaction of the Ti-O chains of polytitanasiloxane with europium ions in the mixture of ethanol and water. The UV-vis absorption, the luminescence intensity, and the luminescence lifetimes of the Eu3+ ions in PTS solutions were all found to increase with the increase of TBT/TEOS molar ratio. The results indicated that the incorporation of TBT can result in the increase of absorption energy of the Ti-O group by near-UV excitation and in the increase of energy transfer to the metal ion, and that the Ti-O chains due to the site binding of Eu3+ ions can expel six to nine solvent molecules from the first coordination solvation shell of the ion. The investigation of the energy transfer from europium to neodymium ions in polytitanasiloxane solutions revealed the formation of aggregates consisting of seven rare earth ions (together with the polytitanasiloxane countercharges).

Counterion exchange selectivity coefficients at water-in-oil microemulsion interface

The counterion binding at a water/Aerosol-OT (AOT)/heptane microemulsion interface was treated in the context of the pseudo-phase ion exchange formalism. Two approaches were used to determine the selectivity coefficient for copper/sodium counterion binding at the AOT microemulsion interface: measurements of the Cu(II) concentration taken up by the reverse micelle in a Winsor II microemulsion system and steady-state emission quenching measurements of an anionic water-solubilized probe, the tris-(4,4'-dicarboxy-2,2'-bipyridine) ruthenium (II) ion. In addition, the selectivity coefficient for methyl viologen/sodium at the microemulsion surface was determined by the same photophysical technique. The value for copper (II)/sodium exchange (K(Cu/Na)) is 1.1+/-0.3 and that for methyl viologen/sodium (K(MV/Na)) is 0.9+/-0.3. The results show that the pseudo-phase ion exchange model can be used to obtain the selectivity coefficient in a microemulsion system.

Micropolarity and microviscosity of amitriptyline and dextran sulfate/carrageenan-amitriptyline systems: the nature of polyelectrolyte-drug complexes

The polarity and viscosity of the microenvironment of aggregates of the cationic amphiphilic drug amitriptyline and dextran sulfate (DxS)/carrageenan-amitriptyline aggregates in aqueous solution were investigated by means of steady state and time-resolved fluorescence. For the latter systems, equilibrium dialysis and capillary viscometry were also used. The micropolarity as detected by pyrene indicated the formation of amitriptyline aggregates, both with and without polyelectrolyte, having properties similar to "traditional" cationic micelles. The pyrene lifetime in the amitriptyline- and amitriptyline-polyelectrolyte aggregates was long ( approximately 230 and approximately 300 ns, respectively), indicating that pyrene was well protected from oxygen quenching, especially so in the latter case. The microviscosity of the amitriptyline aggregates themselves, and in the presence of polyelectrolyte, was high, as indicated by intramolecular excimer formation of 1,3-di(1-pyrenyl)-propane (P3P), rotational diffusion fluorescence depolarization of 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (DPH), and intramolecular rotational relaxation about bonds of [p-(dimethylamino)benzylidene]-malonitrile (BMN). These results and the concurrent decrease of the bulk viscosity indicate that the polyelectrolyte, acting as polycounterion, is tightly wrapped around the amitriptyline aggregates. Amitriptyline hence behaves in accordance with accepted models of cationic surfactant-polyelectrolyte interaction.

Growth of Cetyltrimethylammonium Chloride and Acetate Micelles with Counterion Concentration

Time resolved fluorescence quenching measurements with pyrene as probe are employed to determine aggregation numbers for hexadecyltrimethylammonium acetate (CTAOAc) and chloride (CTACl) micelles as a function of the concentration of detergent and added common-counterion salt. The aggregation numbers, NA, of CTACl are roughly twice those of CTAOAc micelles at equivalent concentrations of detergent and salt, consistent with the known relative counterion binding affinity (chloride >> acetate). For both detergents, the increase of NA with the net concentration of counterions in the intermicellar aqueous phase ([Yaq]) follows the relationship found previously for anionic micelles: log NA = log No + gamma log[Yaq], where gamma and No are constants. However, compared to anionic micelles, for which gamma = 0.2-0.25, spherical micelles of both CTAOAc and CTACl exhibit less pronounced growth, with gamma = 0.1. Copyright 1999 Academic Press.

Counterion Exchange Selectivity in Detergent-Polymer Aggregates

In aqueous solution, the interaction between sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) results in the formation of small aggregates or clusters of SDS attached to the PEG polymer chain. Selectivity coefficients for exchange of two monovalent (N -methyl-4-cyanopyridinium cation and Tl+ ) and two divalent (methylviologen cation and Cu2+ ) counterions at the surface of SDS-PEG clusters, determined employing photophysical techniques, are similar, but not identical, to those for exchange at the surface of SDS micelles in the absence of PEG. The principal factor affecting ion exchange selectivity in SDS-PEG clusters does not appear to be aggregate size or surface charge density but rather the presence of poly(oxyethylene) subunits at the aggregate surface.

Spectral properties of ionic derivatives of pyrene and their aggregates with anionic surfactant and polyelectrolyte

A multifunctional probe based on pyrene, the chloride of the 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-hydroxy-piperidinium ester of 4-(1-pyrene)butyric acid, at a concentration of 5 × 10−5 mol dm−3 exhibits excimer-like green emission with the maximum at 480 nm in the presence of sodium dodecylsulfate below its critical micelle concentration. A similar effect has been observed for this probe in the presence of the sodium salt of polyacrylic acid in the same concentration range. 1-Pyrenemethylammonium chloride exhibits a broad green excimer-like emission for sodium dodecylsulfate but not for the sodium salt of polyacrylic acid. The quenching constants of the monomeric and excimer-like emissions were determined for acrylamide, 1-oxo-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-hydroxypiperidine, potassium iodide, and copper(II) sulfate, representing neutral, ionic, and free-radical types of quenchers. The rate constants of quenching for N-oxyl radicals indicate that the monomeric emission from both water-soluble probes is diffusion controlled. For other types of quenchers the rate constant of bimolecular quenching is lower. The quenching of the excimer-like emission of an aggregate of the chloride of the 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-4-hydroxypiperidinium ester of 4-(1-pyrene)butyric acid is less efficient than in the case of 1-pyrenemethylammonium chloride, which indicates a more packed structure of the former aggregate. Keywords: pyrene, ionic derivative, emission, micelle, aggregation, quenching.