Assessing the Fluorescent Properties of Anthraquinone-Based Dyes
Category
Poster - Applied
Description
Fluorescence is the ability of compounds to absorb a photon of light to excite an electron, then emit a photon of light at a different wavelength as the electron returns to its original state. This simple yet beautiful phenomenon in nature can be utilized for many applications. Fluorescence can be used in cell staining to track organelles or to visualize when two proteins interact. Not all fluorophores are created equally; certain fluorophores have a larger difference between the wavelength they absorb at and emit at; this gap is called the Stokes shift; however, other dyes may have an extremely efficient rate of absorbing and releasing photons, called the quantum yield. However, the dyes used in applications are sought to have both traits and also to emit light for an extended length of time, which is the photostability of the fluorophore. Utilizing organic chemistry techniques, our lab has produced many fluorophores based upon the anthraquinone core. These fluorophores have large Stokes shifts (> 70 nm) and are compared to several commonly used commercial dyes (specifically fluorescein and DAPI) and dyes of similar structure found in creation (specifically purpurin and alizarin) in the following three categories: Stokes shift, quantum yield, and photostability. These comparisons resulted in showing the advantages of our dyes over ones in creation and the current market, but they also revealed the traits where our dyes are lacking. Our dyes have comparable or larger Stokes shifts than the current market dyes, and preliminary results reveal a similar photostability to fluorescein. However, preliminary results also show that our dyes have a low quantum yield. This work shows the potential of our class of fluorophores for cell staining and other applications but also reveals the direction of future research.
Assessing the Fluorescent Properties of Anthraquinone-Based Dyes
Poster - Applied
Fluorescence is the ability of compounds to absorb a photon of light to excite an electron, then emit a photon of light at a different wavelength as the electron returns to its original state. This simple yet beautiful phenomenon in nature can be utilized for many applications. Fluorescence can be used in cell staining to track organelles or to visualize when two proteins interact. Not all fluorophores are created equally; certain fluorophores have a larger difference between the wavelength they absorb at and emit at; this gap is called the Stokes shift; however, other dyes may have an extremely efficient rate of absorbing and releasing photons, called the quantum yield. However, the dyes used in applications are sought to have both traits and also to emit light for an extended length of time, which is the photostability of the fluorophore. Utilizing organic chemistry techniques, our lab has produced many fluorophores based upon the anthraquinone core. These fluorophores have large Stokes shifts (> 70 nm) and are compared to several commonly used commercial dyes (specifically fluorescein and DAPI) and dyes of similar structure found in creation (specifically purpurin and alizarin) in the following three categories: Stokes shift, quantum yield, and photostability. These comparisons resulted in showing the advantages of our dyes over ones in creation and the current market, but they also revealed the traits where our dyes are lacking. Our dyes have comparable or larger Stokes shifts than the current market dyes, and preliminary results reveal a similar photostability to fluorescein. However, preliminary results also show that our dyes have a low quantum yield. This work shows the potential of our class of fluorophores for cell staining and other applications but also reveals the direction of future research.
Comments
Undergraduate