Xi-Cheng Ai

Colloidal Nanoparticles of a Europium Complex with Enhanced Luminescent Properties

We report an alternative approach, that is, forming Eu(tta)3dpbt (dpbt = 2-( N, N-diethylanilin-4-yl)-4,6-bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)-1,3,5-triazine, tta = thenoyltrifluoroacetonato) nanoparticles in water/methanol mixtures, to satisfy the combined requirements of good dispersibility in water solutions and efficient long-wavelength sensitization for Eu (III) complexes to be used in biological applications. The size of Eu(tta)3dpbt colloidal particles with very high luminescent capabilities can be modulated to some extent by changing the preparation conditions. The optical excitation window for the Eu (III) luminescence of Eu(tta)3dpbt nanoparticles, extending up to 475 nm, is wider than that of Eu(tta)3dpbt molecules dissolved in toluene. This is the first example for obviously extending the sensitization window of luminescent lanthanide materials to the long-wavelength region by forming nanoparticles of a lanthanide complex. Quantum yields of Eu (III) luminescence of the prepared Eu(tta)3dpbt colloidal particles, with an average diameter of 33.1 nm, are 0.27, 0.27, 0.24, 0.19, 0.14, and 0.01 upon excitation at 402, 420, 430, 440, 450, and 475 nm, respectively. The Eu(tta)3dpbt nanoparticles exhibited excellent two-photon sensitization performance with a highest delta Phi value of 3.2 x 10(5) GM (1 GM = 10(-50) cm4 s photo(-1) particle(-1)) at the excitation wavelength of 832 nm, which is about 7 times higher than the highest value reported for the CdSe/ZnS core-shell quantum dots. The favorable luminescent properties and the good dispersibility in water solutions of the Eu(tta)3dpbt nanoparticles are very promising for the development of new luminescent nanoprobes for bioanalysis.

Role of ligand-to-metal charge transfer state in nontriplet photosensitization of luminescent europium complex.

We have investigated, by means of steady-state and time-resolved optical spectroscopies, the excited-state dynamics of the luminescent europium complex Eu(III)(tta)(3)dpbt (tta = henoyltrifluoroacetonate; dbpt = 2-(N,N-diethylanilin-4-yl)-4,6-bis(3,5-dimethylpyrazol-1-yl)-1,3,5-triazine) with Gd(III)(tta)(3)dpbt and Tb(III)(tta)(3)dpbt as the reference complexes that cannot be photosensitized. In the Eu(III)(tta)(3)dpbt complex, the ligand dpbt exhibited biphasic fluorescence decay kinetics; the faster component (decay time constant, 8.5 ps) is ascribed to the rapid conversion of the lowest-lying singlet excited state of dpbt (S(1) or (1)dpbt*) to a ligand-to-metal charge transfer singlet state of the complex ((1)LMCT*), whereas the slower one (1.8 ns) is shown by temperature-dependent luminescence spectroscopy to be delayed fluorescence due to the LMCT-to-dpbt backward energy transfer and represents the time scale of efficient excitation energy flow from the (1)LMCT* state to the (5)D(1) state of Eu(III). On the basis of the spectroscopic results of the Ln(III)(tta)(3)dpbt complexes (Ln = Eu, Gd, and Tb), the crucial role of the (1)LMCT* state in photosensitization of the Eu(III)(tta)(3)dpbt complex is established, and a LMCT-mediated nontriplet sensitization mechanism is proposed, which is advantageous in high efficiency and low excitation photon energy as well as in low susceptibility against oxygen quenching.

Radical Cation Generation from Singlet and Triplet Excited States of All-trans-Lycopene in Chloroform¶

Abstract On direct photoexcitation, subpicosecond time-resolved absorption spectroscopy revealed that the 1Bu-type singlet excited state of all-trans-lycopene in chloroform was about seven times more efficient than all-trans-β-carotene in generating the radical cation. The time constant of radical cation generation from the 1Bu-type state was found to be ∼0.14 ps, a value that was comparable for the two carotenoids. On anthracene-sensitized triplet excitation, radical cation generation was found to be much less efficient for lycopene than for β-carotene. A slow rising phase (20–30 μs) in the bleaching of ground-state absorption was common for both lycopene and β-carotene in chloroform and was ascribed to an efficient secondary reaction with a solvent radical leading to the formation of carotenoid radical cations. The reverse ordering in the tendency of the excited states of different multiplicities for the two carotenoids to generate radical cations is discussed in relation to the two carotenoids as scavengers of free radicals.

Baicalin in Radical Scavenging and Its Synergistic Effect with β-Carotene in Antilipoxidation

The lipophilic flavonoid glycoside baicalin from the traditional oriental herb Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi (logP = 1.27, pK(a1) = 7.6, pK(a2) = 10.1 as determined at 25 degrees C in 0.1 M NaCl) is found to be as reducing (0.39 V vs NHE, reversible two-electron oxidation by CV at pH 7.4) as other catechol flavonoids but a poor radical scavenger (TEAC = 1.12, pH 7.4) and a poor antioxidant against free radical initiated lipid oxidation in liposomes. However, this compound is able to regenerate beta-carotene (beta-Car) from beta-Car(*+) with a second-order rate constant of (5.6 +/- 0.5) x 10(9) L mol(-1) s(-1) in the methanol/chloroform binary solvent (1:9, v/v) and, more importantly, to exhibit a prominent synergistic effect with beta-Car against the lipoxidation induced by AMVN-derived peroxyl radical in liposomal membrane. Thus, baicalin by itself is not an effective antioxidant, but it becomes one via interaction with beta-Car. The radical scavenging and antilipoxidation properties of baicalin are discussed in terms of its physicochemical properties and molecular structures.

Time-resolved spectroscopic behavior of Fe2O3 and ZnFe2O4 nanocrystals

Using nanosecond (ns) and femtosecond (fs) time-resolved absorption spectroscopies (pump-probe technique), the carrier dynamics in transition metal oxide nanocrystals of alpha-Fe2O3 and ZnFe2O4 was studied during the photolysis process. For Fe2O3 and ZnFe2O4 nanocrystals, the fs measurements detect similar profiles of a positive nonlinear absorption in their capped nanocrystals, whereas much weak signals in the naked particles. In the nanosecond measurements Fe2O3 and ZnFe2O4 nanocrystals show obvious excitation-power dependent absorption properties and at the low pump power they show weak photobleaching, but at high pump power they produce positive nonlinear absorptions. For Fe2O3 nanocrystals, the threshold power of negative absorption (bleach) to positive absorption increases with reducing size, whereas for the ZnFe2O4 samples, the threshold powers reach minimum at a critical size of 11 nm, grow for both the bigger and the smaller nanocrystals. These results reflect the influences of their microscopic magnetic couplings and carrier correlation on biexciton absorption in Fe2O3 and ZnFe2O4 nanocrystals. All the results indicate that the time resolved photoabsorption techniques are useful to study the microscopic spin interactions and carrier correlations in transition metal oxide nanocrystals.

Triplet excitation transfer between carotenoids in the LH2 complex from photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris

We have studied, by means of sub-microsecond time-resolved absorption spectroscopy, the triplet-excited state dynamics of carotenoids (Cars) in the intermediate-light adapted LH2 complex (ML–LH2) from Rhodopseudomonas palustris containing Cars with different numbers of conjugated double bonds. Following pulsed photo-excitation at 590 nm at room temperature, rapid spectral equilibration was observed either as a red shift of the isosbestic wavelength on a time scale of 0.6–1.0 μs, or as a fast decay in the shorter-wavelength side of the Tn←T1 absorption of Cars with a time constant of 0.5–0.8 μs. Two major spectral components assignable to Cars with 11 and 12 conjugated double bonds were identified. The equilibration was not observed in the ML–LH2 at 77 K, or in the LH2 complex from Rhodobacter sphaeroides G1C containing a single type of Car. The unique spectral equilibration was ascribed to temperature-dependent triplet excitation transfer among different Car compositions. The results suggest that Cars of 11 and 12 conjugated bonds, both in close proximity of BChls, may coexist in an α,β-subunit of the ML–LH2 complex.

Studies of the solvent effects on the internal reorganization energy for electron transfer of uracil and its anion with ONIOM

Abstract In this paper, the aqueous adiabatic electron affinity (AEA) of Uracil (U) and internal reorganization energy λ i of the self-exchange electron transfer (ET) reaction between Uracil and Uracil anion radical (U − ) in aqueous solution were studied. The effect of the solvation was studied with the recently developed hybrid quantum molecular chemical method, ONIOM. In all calculations, the geometrical optimization for U and U − was performed at B3LYP/6-31++G(d) level. As for the solvent surroundings, the seven water molecules as the first hydration shell were adopted and treated with B3LYP, PM3 and AMBER methods, namely, ONIOM (B3LYP:B3LYP), ONIOM (B3LYP:PM3) and ONIOM (B3LYP:Amber) methods, respectively. The values of AEA for Uracil, predicted by the above three methods, are small positive ones. The geometrical differences between neutral and anion radical molecules of U originate mainly from those of dihedral angles. According to the corresponding dipole moment values, the excess electron in U − should be trapped dominantly by dipole-bound way. The calculated λ i values by ONIOM (B3LYP:B3LYP) and ONIOM (B3LYP:PM3) are close to each other within 0.89%. The λ i value from ONIOM (B3LYP:Amber) is in agreement with the one from SCRF-CPCM very well. Finally, the calculation results of the detailed geometries and molecular interaction mode effect of U and U − and related water molecules in the hydration shell were discussed.

Antioxidants and Physical Integrity of Lipid Bilayers under Oxidative Stress

Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs of diameter 5-25 μm) of soy phosphatidylcholine (PC), resistant to intense light exposure (400-440 nm, ~15 mW·mm(-2)), underwent budding when containing chlorophyll a (Chla) in the lipid bilayer ([PC]:[Chla] = 1500:1). On the basis of image heterogeneity analysis using inverted microscopy, a dimensionless entropy parameter for the budding process was shown to increase linearly during an initial budding process. Lipophilic β-carotene (β-Car, [PC]:[β-Car] = 500:1) reduced the initial budding rate by a factor of 2.4, while the hydrophilic glycoside rutin ([PC]:[rutin] = 500:1) had no effect. Chla photosensitized oxidation of PC to form linoleoyl hydroperoxides, further leading to domains of higher polarity in the vesicles, is suggested to trigger budding. The average dipole moment (μ) of linoleic acid hydroperoxides was calculated using density functional theory (DFT) to have the value of 2.84 D, while unoxidized linoleic acid has μ = 1.86 D. β-Carotene as a lipophilic antioxidant and singlet-oxygen quencher seems to hamper oxidation in the lipid bilayers and delay budding in contrast to rutin located in the aqueous phase. The effect on budding of GUVs as a detrimental process for membranes is suggested for use in assays for evaluation of potential protectors of cellular integrity and functions under oxidative stress.

Spectroscopic study on the photophysical properties of chlorine substituted tetraphenylporphyrin-histidine and its zinc (II) complexes

The photophysical properties ofortho- CI,meta-CI andpara-CI substituted tetraphenylporphyrin-histidine and their zinc (II) complexes have been studied by means of steady-state absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies, as well as time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. For the cases of both free-base and zinc complexes, it was found that theortho-chlorine substitution onto the phenyl rings significantly altered the fluorescence quantum yield, the fluorescence lifetime and the ratio between radiative and nonradiative deactivation rates of the porphyrin chromophore, i.e. the photophysical parameters were quite different from those ofmeta- andpara-substituted compounds. On the other hand, however, the introduction of covalently-linked histidine did not exert much effects on the photophysical behavior of the porphyrin chromophore. The results are interpreted in terms of the steric effect and the heavy-atom effect from the chlorine atoms substituted onto the phenyl rings.

Ultrafast spectroscopy studies on the mechanism of electron transfer and energy conversion in the isolated pseudo ginseng, water hyacinth and spinach chloroplasts

The spectroscopy characteristics and the fluorescence lifetime for the chloroplasts isolated from the pseudo ginseng, water hyacinth and spinach plant leaves have been studied by absorption spectra, low temperature steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy and single photon counting measurement under the same conditions and by the same methods. The similarity of the absorption spectra for the chloroplasts at room temperature suggests that different plants can efficiently absorb light of the same wavelength. The fluorescence decays in PS II measured at the natural QA state for the chloroplasts have been fitted by a three-exponential kinetic model. The three fluorescence lifetimes are 30, 274 and 805 ps for the pseudo ginseng chloroplast; 138, 521 and 1494 ps for the water hyacinth chloroplast; 197, 465 and 1459 ps for the spinach chloroplast, respectively. The slow lifetime fluorescence component is assigned to a collection of associated light harvesting Chl a/b proteins, the fast lifetime component to the reaction center of PS II and the middle lifetime component to the delay fluorescence of recombination of P+ 680 and Pheo-. The excitation energy conversion efficiency(η) in PS II RC is defined and calculated on the basis of the 20 ps electron transfer time constant model, 60%, 87% and 91% for the pseudo ginseng, water hyacinth and spinach chloroplasts, respectively. This interesting result is in unconformity with what is assumed to be 100% efficiency in PS II RC. Our result in this work stands in line with the 20 ps electron transfer time constant in PS II rather sound and the water hyacinth plant grows slower than the spinach plant does as envisaged on the efficiency. But, our results predict that those plants can perform highly efficient transfer of photo-excitation energy from the light-harvesting pigment system to the reaction center (closely to 100%). The conclusion contained in this paper reveals the plant growth characteristics expressed in the primary processes of photosynthesis and a relationship between a plant growing rate and its spectroscopy characteristics and fluorescence lifetimes, namely, the slower a plant grows, the less excitation energy conversation efficiency used might be anticipated.