Ratiometric mechanosensitive fluorescent dyes: Design and applications

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Materials Science
• Biophysics

Background:

• Fluorescent molecules are valuable analytical tools and biosensors due to their rapid response and low-cost instrumentation.
• Recent advances in chemical synthesis have led to the development of sophisticated fluorescent probes, including molecular rotors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To focus on fluorescent molecular rotors, a class of mechanosensors whose emission quantum yield correlates with microviscosity.
• To discuss the development and application of dual-emission molecular rotors designed to mitigate confounding factors in fluorescence measurements.

Main Methods:

• Exploration of the theory and chemical structure of fluorescent molecular rotors.
• Analysis of dual-emission strategies, including intrinsic dual emission and reference unit incorporation.
• Review of targeted design principles for novel molecular rotor development.

Main Results:

• Fluorescent molecular rotors exhibit a relationship between emission quantum yield and microviscosity.
• Dual-emission dyes, including molecular rotors with intrinsic dual emission or reference bands, can overcome limitations of steady-state fluorescence intensity measurements.
• Development of specific classes of dual-emission molecular rotors is reported.

Conclusions:

• Dual-emission molecular rotors offer enhanced capabilities for microviscosity sensing compared to traditional fluorescent probes.
• These advanced probes provide a more reliable method for measuring microviscosity by decoupling emission intensity from quantum yield.
• The reported designs and applications highlight the potential of molecular rotors in various sensing fields.