Premium
Hydrogen Bonding‐Induced H‐Aggregation for Fluorescence Turn‐On of the GFP Chromophore: Supramolecular Structural Rigidity
Author(s) -
Tsai MengShiue,
Tsai SungYu,
Huang YiFan,
Wang ChienLung,
Sun ShihSheng,
Yang JyeShane
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.202000358
Subject(s) - chromophore , fluorescence , supramolecular chemistry , green fluorescent protein , hydrogen bond , rigidity (electromagnetism) , structural rigidity , photochemistry , chemistry , materials science , crystallography , molecule , organic chemistry , crystal structure , biochemistry , optics , physics , geometry , mathematics , composite material , gene
To turn on the fluorescence of the native green fluorescence protein (GFP) chromophore, 4‐hydroxybenzylidene‐dimethylimidazolinone (HBDI), in an artificial supramolecular system has been a challenging task, because it requires high local environmental rigidity. This work shows that the formation of H‐aggregates of an HBDI‐containing organogelator results in two orders of magnitude fluorescence enhancement ( Φ f =2.9 vs. 0.02 %), in which the inter‐HBDI OH⋅⋅⋅OH H‐bonds play a crucial role. The aggregation‐induced fluorescence enhancement of HBDI has important implications on the origin of the high fluorescence quantum efficiency of HBDI in the GFP β‐barrel and on the supramolecular strategy for a full fluorescence recovery of HBDI. These results reveal a new approach to designing rigid chromophore aggregates for high‐performance optoelectronic properties.