Excited-state dynamics of the fluorescent probe Lucifer Yellow in liquid solutions and in heterogeneous media

The photophysics of the dye Lucifer Yellow ethylenediamine (LYen) has been investigated in various polar solvents. The main deactivation pathways of its first singlet excited state are the fluorescence and the intersystem crossing. In water, non-radiative decay by intermolecular proton transfer becomes a significant deactivation channel. The early fluorescence dynamics, which was investigated in liquids and in reverse micelles, was found to depend substantially on the environment. An important static quenching of LYen by tryptophan and indole occurring in the subpicosecond timescale was observed. The use of the fluorescence dynamics of LYen as a local probe is illustrated by preliminary results obtained with a biotinylated Lucifer Yellow derivative complexed with avidin.