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White‐Fluorescent Dual‐Emission Mechanosensitive Membrane Probes that Function by Bending Rather than Twisting
Author(s) -
Humeniuk Heorhii V.,
Rosspeintner Arnulf,
Licari Giuseppe,
Kilin Vasyl,
Bonacina Luigi,
Vauthey Eric,
Sakai Naomi,
Matile Stefan
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1521-3757
pISSN - 0044-8249
DOI - 10.1002/ange.201804662
Subject(s) - mechanosensitive channels , excited state , bent molecular geometry , fluorescence , membrane , vesicle , chemistry , micelle , materials science , photochemistry , nanotechnology , optics , atomic physics , physics , biochemistry , receptor , organic chemistry , ion channel , aqueous solution
Bent N,N′‐diphenyl‐dihydrodibenzo[a,c]phenazine amphiphiles are introduced as mechanosensitive membrane probes that operate by an unprecedented mechanism, namely, unbending in the excited state as opposed to the previously reported untwisting in the ground and twisting in the excited state. Their dual emission from bent or “closed” and planarized or “open” excited states is shown to discriminate between micelles in water and monomers in solid‐ordered (S o ), liquid‐disordered (L d ) and bulk membranes. The dual‐emission spectra cover enough of the visible range to produce vesicles that emit white light with ratiometrically encoded information. Strategies to improve the bent mechanophores with expanded π systems and auxochromes are reported, and compatibility with imaging of membrane domains in giant unilamellar vesicles by two‐photon excitation fluorescence (TPEF) microscopy is demonstrated.