Tetramethylalloxazines as efficient singlet oxygen photosensitizers and potential redox-sensitive agents.

Tetramethylalloxazines (TMeAll) have been found to have a high quantum yield of singlet oxygen generation when used as photosensitizers. Their electronic structure and transition energies (S0 → Si, S0 → Ti, T1 → Ti) were calculated using DFT and TD-DFT methods and compared to experimental absorption spectra. Generally, TMeAll display an energy diagram similar to other derivatives belonging to the alloxazine class of compounds, namely π,π* transitions are accompanied by closely located n,π* transitions. Photophysical data such as quantum yields of fluorescence, fluorescence lifetimes, and nonradiative rate constants were also studied in methanol (MeOH), acetonitrile (ACN), and 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE). The transient absorption spectra were also analyzed. To assess cytotoxicity of new compounds, a hemolytic assay was performed using human red blood cells (RBC) in vitro. Subsequently, fluorescence lifetime imaging experiments (FLIM) were performed on RBC under physiological and oxidative stress conditions alone or in the presence of TMeAll allowing for pinpointing changes caused by those compounds on the intracellular environment of these cells.

5-Deazaalloxazine as photosensitizer of singlet oxygen and potential redox-sensitive agent.

Flavins are a unique class of compounds that combine the features of singlet oxygen generators and redox-dependent fluorophores. From a broad family of flavin derivatives, deazaalloxazines are significantly underdeveloped from the point of view of photophysical properties. Herein, we report photophysics of 5-deazaalloxazine (1a) in water, acetonitrile, and some other solvents. In particular, triplet excited states of 1a in water and in acetonitrile were investigated using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) transient absorption spectroscopy. The measured triplet lifetimes for 1a were all on the microsecond time scale (≈ 60 µs) in deoxygenated solutions. The quantum yield of S1 → T1 intersystem crossing for 1a in water was 0.43 based on T1 energy transfer from 1a to indicaxanthin (5) acting as acceptor and on comparative actinometric measurements using benzophenone (6). 1a was an efficient photosensitizer for singlet oxygen in aerated solutions, with quantum yields of singlet oxygen in methanol of about 0.76, compared to acetonitrile ~ 0.74, dichloromethane ~ 0.64 and 1,2-dichloroethane ~ 0.54. Significantly lower singlet oxygen quantum yields were obtained in water and deuterated water (Ð¤Δ ~ 0.42 and 0.44, respectively). Human red blood cells (RBC) were used as a cell model to study the antioxidant capacity in vitro and cytotoxic activity of 1a. Fluorescence-lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) data were analyzed by fluorescence lifetime parameters and distribution for different parts of the emission spectrum. Comparison of multidimensional fluorescent properties of RBC under physiological-like and oxidative-stress conditions in the presence and absence of 1a suggests its dual activity as probe and singlet-oxygen generator and opens up a pathway for using FLIM to analyze complex intracellular behavior of flavin-like compounds. These new data on structure-property relationship contribute to the body of information required for a rational design of flavin-based tools for future biological and biochemical applications.

Magnetogenesis in water induced by a chemical analyte.

This Minireview aims to shed light on the emergent field of inducing a change in the magnetic properties of a solution-phase sample by exposing it to a chemical analyte. A considerable body of knowledge exists on materials that alter their magnetic characteristics after a change in the surrounding physical conditions and a number of cases even exist of solution-phase samples that do so under these same circumstances. However, examples of dissolved molecules or particles that react in this fashion under constant conditions and in response to an analyte are limited. Although some cases in organic solvents are discussed, the emphasis of this Minireview is on water. Our aim is to provide the reader with guidelines for designing new magnetogenic probes for the detection of the desired chemical analyte.

Bispidine platform grants full control over magnetic state of ferrous chelates in water.

A bicyclic ligand platform for iron(II), which allows total control over the complex's magnetic properties in aqueous solution simply by varying one of the six coordination sites of the bispidine ligand, is reported. To achieve this, an efficient synthetic route to an N5 bispidine framework (ligand L4) that features an unsubstituted N-7 site is established. Then, by choosing appropriate N-7-coordinating substituents, the spin state of choice can be imposed on the corresponding ferrous complexes under environmentally relevant conditions in water and near-room temperature. Importantly, the first low-spin and diamagnetic iron(II) chelates in the bispidine series, both in the solid state and in aqueous solution, are reported. The eradication of head-on steric clashes between pendent coordinating arms is at the origin of this success. A new pair of constitutionally similar ferrous coordination compounds of a multidentate ligand system is obtained, which exhibits a distinctly binary (off-on) magnetic relationship. The new synthetic intermediate L4 may be substituted in just one step by any desired pendent arm, thus allowing access to complexes with finely tuned magnetic properties.