TY - JOUR A1 - Scholtz, Lena A1 - Eckert, J. G. A1 - Elahi, T. A1 - Lübkemann, F. A1 - Hübner, Oskar A1 - Bigall, N. C. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Luminescence encoding of polymer microbeads with organic dyes and semiconductor quantum dots during polymerization N2 - Luminescence-encoded microbeads are important tools for many applications in the life and material sciences that utilize luminescence detection as well as multiplexing and barcoding strategies. The preparation of such beads often involves the staining of premanufactured beads with molecular luminophores using simple swelling procedures or surface functionalization with layer-by-layer (LbL) techniques. Alternatively, these luminophores are sterically incorporated during the polymerization reaction yielding the polymer beads. The favorable optical properties of semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), which present broadly excitable, size-tunable, narrow emission bands and low photobleaching sensitivity, triggered the preparation of beads stained with QDs. However, the colloidal nature and the surface chemistry of these QDs, which largely controls their luminescence properties, introduce new challenges to bead encoding that have been barely systematically assessed. To establish a straightforward approach for the bead encoding with QDs with minimized loss in luminescence, we systematically assessed the incorporation of oleic acid/oleylamine-stabilized CdSe/CdS-core/shell-QDs into 0.5–2.5 μm-sized polystyrene (PS) microspheres by a simple dispersion polymerization synthesis that was first optimized with the organic dye Nile Red. Parameters addressed for the preparation of luminophore-encoded beads include the use of a polymer-compatible ligand such as benzyldimethyloctadecylammonium chloride (OBDAC) for the QDs, and crosslinking to prevent luminophore leakage. The physico-chemical and optical properties of the resulting beads were investigated with electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, optical spectroscopy, and fluorescence microscopy. Particle size distribution, fluorescence quantum yield of the encapsulated QDs, and QD leaking stability were used as measures for bead quality. The derived optimized bead encoding procedure enables the reproducible preparation of bright PS microbeads encoded with organic dyes as well as with CdSe/CdS-QDs. Although these beads show a reduced photoluminescence quantum yield compared to the initially very strongly luminescent QDs, with values of about 35%, their photoluminescence quantum yield is nevertheless still moderate. KW - Polymerization KW - Quantum dots KW - Microbeads KW - Fluorescence PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-553430 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-16065-x SN - 2045-2322 VL - 12 SP - 1 EP - 16 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London AN - OPUS4-55343 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kromer, Ch. A1 - Schwibbert, K. A1 - Gadicherla, A. K. A1 - Thiele, D. A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Laux, P. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Luch, A. A1 - Tschiche, H. R. T1 - Monitoring and imaging pH in biofilms utilizing a fluorescent polymeric nanosensor N2 - Biofilms are ubiquitous in nature and in the man-made environment. Given their harmful effects on human health, an in-depth understanding of biofilms and the monitoring of their formation and growth are important. Particularly relevant for many metabolic processes and survival strategies of biofilms is their extracellular pH. However, most conventional techniques are not suited for minimally invasive pH measurements of living biofilms. Here, a fluorescent nanosensor is presented for ratiometric measurements of pH in biofilms in the range of pH 4.5–9.5 using confocal laser scanning microscopy. The nanosensor consists of biocompatible polystyrene nanoparticles loaded with pH-inert dye Nile Red and is surface functionalized with a pH-responsive fluorescein dye. Its performance was validated by fluorometrically monitoring the time-dependent changes in pH in E. coli biofilms after glucose inoculation at 37 °C and 4 °C. This revealed a temperature-dependent decrease in pH over a 4-h period caused by the acidifying glucose metabolism of E. coli. These studies demonstrate the applicability of this nanosensor to characterize the chemical microenvironment in biofilms with fluorescence methods. KW - Dye KW - Fluorescence KW - Signal enhancement KW - Sensor KW - Quantum yield KW - Synthesis KW - Nanoparticle KW - Nano KW - Polymer KW - Ph KW - Biofilm KW - MIC KW - Corrosion KW - Microorganism KW - Bacteria PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-550751 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-13518-1 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 12 IS - 1 SP - 1 EP - 10 PB - Nature Publishing Group CY - London AN - OPUS4-55075 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Valderrey, Virginia A1 - Gawlitza, Kornelia A1 - Rurack, Knut T1 - Thiourea- and Amino-Substituted Benzoxadiazole Dyes with Large Stokes Shifts as Red-Emitting Probe Monomers for Imprinted Polymer Layers Targeting Carboxylate-Containing Antibiotics N2 - Bifunctional fluorescent molecular oxoanion probes based on the benzoxadiazole (BD) chromophore are described which integrate a thiourea binding motif and a polymerizable 2-aminoethyl methacrylate unit in the 4,7-positions of the BD core. Concerted charge transfer in this electron donor-acceptor-donor architecture endows the dyes with strongly Stokes shifted (up to >250 nm) absorption and fluorescence. Binding of electron-rich carboxylate guests at the thiourea receptor leads to further analyte-induced red-shifts of the emission, shifting the fluorescence maximum of the complexes to ≥700 nm. Association constants for acetate are ranging from 1–5×105 M−1 in acetonitrile. Integration of one of the fluorescent probes through its polymerizable moiety into molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) grafted from the surface of submicron silica cores yielded fluorescent MIP-coated particle probes for the selective detection of antibiotics containing aliphatic carboxylate groups such as enoxacin (ENOX) at micromolar concentrations in highly polar solvents like acetonitrile. KW - Molecular imprinting KW - Anion recognition KW - Antibiotics KW - Benzoxadiazole dyes KW - Charge transfer KW - Fluorescence PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-545027 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202104525 SN - 1521-3765 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Wiley-VCH AN - OPUS4-54502 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Wang, Cui A1 - Kitzmann, W.R. A1 - Weigert, Florian A1 - Förster, Ch. A1 - Wang, X. A1 - Heintze, K. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Matrix Effects on Photoluminescence and Oxygen Sensitivity of a Molecular Ruby N2 - The molecular ruby analogue [Cr(ddpd)2]3+ (ddpd=N,N’-dimethyl-N,N’-dipyridine-2-ylpyridine-2,6-diamine) exhibits near infrared (NIR) emission with a high photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield ΦPL of 11 % and a lifetime of 898 μs in deaerated water at room temperature. While ligand-based control of the photophysical properties has received much attention, influences of the counter anions and microenvironment are still underexplored. In this study, the luminescence properties of the molecular ruby were systematically examined for the counter anions Cl−, Br−, [BF4]−, [PF6]−, [BPh4]−, and [BArF24]− in acetonitrile (MeCN) solution, in crystals, and embedded into polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNP). Stern-Volmer analyses of the oxygen quenching studies in the intensity and lifetime domain showed the highest oxygen sensitivity of the complexes with the counter anions of [BF4]− and [BArF24]−, which also revealed the longest luminescence lifetimes. Embedding [Cr(ddpd)2][PF6]3 in PSNPs and shielding with poly(vinyl alcohol) yields a strongly NIR-emissive oxygen-insensitive material with a record ΦPL of 15.2 % under ambient conditions. KW - Fluorescence KW - Sensor KW - Oxygen KW - Quantum yield KW - Quality assurance KW - Complex KW - Cr(III) KW - Lifetime KW - Ligand KW - Solid state KW - X-Ray analysis KW - Structure-property relationship KW - Nano KW - Polymer KW - Particle PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-546057 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/cptc.202100296 SN - 2367-0932 VL - 6 IS - 6 SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-54605 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Bandi, V.G. A1 - Luciano, M.P. A1 - Saccomano, M. A1 - Patel, N.L. A1 - Bischof, Th. S. A1 - Lingg, J.G.P. A1 - Tsrunchev, P.T. A1 - Nix, M.N. A1 - Ruehle, Bastian A1 - Sanders, C. A1 - Riffle, L. A1 - Robinson, C.M. A1 - Difilippantonio, S. A1 - Kalen, J.D. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Ivanic, J. A1 - Bruns, O.T. A1 - Schnermann, M. T1 - Targeted multicolor in vivo imaging over 1,000 nm enabled by nonamethine cyanines N2 - Recent progress has shown that using wavelengths between 1,000 and 2,000 nm, referred to as the shortwave-infrared or near-infrared (NIR)-II range, can enable high-resolution in vivo imaging at depths not possible with conventional optical wavelengths. However, few bioconjugatable probes of the type that have proven invaluable for multiplexed imaging in the visible and NIR range are available for imaging these wavelengths. Using rational design, we have generated persulfonated indocyanine dyes with absorbance maxima at 872 and 1,072 nm through catechol-ring and aryl-ring fusion, respectively, onto the nonamethine scaffold. Multiplexed two-color and three-color in vivo imaging using monoclonal antibody and dextran conjugates in several tumor models illustrate the benefits of concurrent labeling of the tumor and healthy surrounding tissue and lymphatics. These efforts are enabled by complementary advances in a custom-built NIR/shortwave-infrared imaging setup and software package for multicolor real-time imaging. KW - Photoluminescence KW - Fluorescence KW - Dye KW - Cyanine KW - Antibody KW - Bioconjugate KW - Conjugate KW - Quantum yield KW - Photophysics KW - Lifetime KW - Sensor KW - NIR KW - SWIR KW - Mechanism KW - Imaging KW - Application KW - Contrast agent KW - Bioimaging PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-022-01394-6 VL - 19 IS - 3 SP - 353 EP - 358 PB - Nature Research AN - OPUS4-54465 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Hudson, A.D. A1 - Jamieson, O. A1 - Crapnell, R.D. A1 - Rurack, Knut A1 - Soares, T.C.C. A1 - Mecozzi, F. A1 - Laude, A. A1 - Gruber, J. A1 - Novakovic, K. A1 - Peeters, M. T1 - Dual detection of nafcillin using a molecularly imprinted polymer-based platform coupled to thermal and fluorescence read-out N2 - Reported here is the production of molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) films, integrating a fluorescent moiety that serves as both an element for template interaction and signalling, for the thermal and optical detection of the beta-lactam antibiotic nafcillin. Fluorescein methacrylate (FluMa) was synthesized and introduced during the molecular imprinting process as the sole monomer and in a 1 : 1 mixture with methacrylic acid (MAA), allowing to draw first conclusions on the MIP formation potential of such a rather large and rigid monomer. At first, MIP microparticles containing FluMa were prepared by free radical polymerisation. Optical batch rebinding experiments revealed that FluMa can act as a functional monomer for selective detection of nafcillin; however, the addition of MAA as co-monomer significantly improved performance. Subsequently, thin MIP films containing FluMa were deposited onto functionalised glass slides and the influence of porogen, drying time, and monomer composition was studied. These MIP-functionalised glass electrodes were mounted into a customised 3D-printed flow cell, where changes in the liquid were either evaluated with a thermal device or using fluorescence bright field microscopy. Thermal analysis demonstrated that multiple MIP layers enhanced sensor specificity, with detection in the environmentally relevant range. The fluorescence bright field microscope investigations validated these results, showing an increase in the fluorescence intensity upon exposure of the MIP-functionalised glass slides to nafcillin solutions. These are promising results for developing a portable sensor device that can be deployed for antibiotics outside of a dedicated laboratory environment, especially if sensor design and fluorophore architecture are optimised. KW - Molecularly Imprinted Polymers KW - Fluorescence KW - Antibiotics KW - Heat-transfer Measurements KW - Thin films PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-540044 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/D1MA00192B VL - 2 IS - 15 SP - 5105 EP - 5115 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry CY - Cambridge AN - OPUS4-54004 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Biesen, L. A1 - May, L. A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Hoffmann, Katrin A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Müller, T. J. J. T1 - Communication of Bichromophore Emission upon Aggregation – Aroyl-S,N-ketene Acetals as Multifunctional Sensor Merocyanines N2 - Aroyl-S,N-ketene acetal-based bichromophores can be readily synthesized in a consecutive three-component synthesis in good to excellent yields by condensation of aroyl chlorides and an N-(p-bromobenzyl) 2-methyl benzothiazolium salt followed by a Suzuki coupling, yielding a library of 31 bichromophoric fluorophores with substitution patterntunable emission properties. Varying both chromophores enables different communication pathways between the chromophores, exploiting aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and energy transfer (ET) properties, and thus, furnishing aggregation-based fluorescence switches. Possible applications range from fluorometric analysis of alcoholic beverages to pH sensors. KW - Dye KW - Fluorescence KW - Aggregation induced emission KW - Signal enhancement KW - Energy transfer KW - Switch KW - Sensor KW - Quantum yield KW - Lifetime KW - Photophysics KW - Synthesis PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-531123 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202102052 VL - 27 IS - 53 SP - 13426 EP - 13434 PB - Wiley-VCH AN - OPUS4-53112 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Witte, F. A1 - Rietsch, P. A1 - Nirmalananthan-Budau, Nithiya A1 - Weigert, Florian A1 - Götze, J. P. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Eigler, S. A1 - Paulus, B. T1 - Aggregation-induced emission leading to two distinct emissive species in the solid-state structure of high-dipole organic chromophores N2 - The concept of aggregation-induced emission represents a means to rationalise photoluminescence of usually nonfluorescent excimers in solid-state materials. In this publication, we study the photophysical properties of selected diaminodicyanoquinone (DADQ) derivatives in the solid state using a combined approach of experiment and theory. DADQs are a class of high-dipole organic chromophores promising for applications in non-linear optics and light-harvesting devices. Among the compounds investigated, we find both aggregation-induced emission and aggregation-caused quenching effects rationalised by calculated energy transfer rates. Analysis of fluorescence spectra and lifetime measurements provide the interesting result that (at least) two emissive species seem to contribute to the photophysical properties of DADQs. The main emission peak is notably broadened in the long-wavelength limit and exhibits a blue-shifted shoulder. We employ high-level quantum-chemical methods to validate a molecular approach to a solid-state problem and show that the complex emission features of DADQs can be attributed to a combination of H-type aggregates, monomers, and crystal structure defects. KW - Fluorescence KW - Optical probe KW - Dye KW - Photophysics KW - Theory KW - Quantum yield KW - Mechanism KW - Quantum chemistry KW - Modelling KW - Aggregation KW - Lifetime KW - Single particle KW - Microscopy KW - Solid KW - Crystal PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-531138 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d1cp02534a SP - 1 EP - 9 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-53113 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Reichenauer, F. A1 - Wang, Cui A1 - Förster, C. A1 - Boden, P. A1 - Ugur, N. A1 - Báez-Cruz, R. A1 - Kalmbach, J. A1 - Carrella, L. M. A1 - Rentschler, E. A1 - Ramanan, C. A1 - Niedner-Schatteburg, G. A1 - Gerhards, M. A1 - Seitz, M. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute A1 - Heinze, K. T1 - Strongly Red-Emissive Molecular Ruby [Cr(bpmp)2]3+ Surpasses [Ru(bpy)3]2+ N2 - Gaining chemical control over the thermodynamics and kinetics of photoexcited states is paramount to an efficient and sustainable utilization of photoactive transition metal complexes in a plethora of technologies. In contrast to energies of charge Transfer states described by spatially separated orbitals, the energies of spinflip states cannot straightforwardly be predicted as Pauli Repulsion and the nephelauxetic effect play key roles. Guided by multireference quantum chemical calculations, we report a novel highly luminescent spin-flip emitter with a quantum chemically predicted blue-shifted luminescence. The spin-flip emission band of the chromium complex [Cr(bpmp)2]3+ (bpmp = 2,6-bis(2-pyridylmethyl) pyridine) shifted to higher energy from ca. 780 nm observed for known highly emissive chromium(III) complexes to 709 nm. The photoluminescence quantum yields climb to 20%, and very long excited state lifetimes in the millisecond range are achieved at room temperature in acidic D2O solution. Partial ligand deuteration increases the quantum yield to 25%. The high excited state energy of [Cr(bpmp)2]3+ and its facile reduction to [Cr(bpmp)2]2+ result in a high excited state redox potential. The ligand’s methylene bridge acts as a Brønsted acid quenching the luminescence at high pH. Combined with a pH-insensitive chromium(III) emitter, ratiometric optical pH sensing is achieved with single wavelength excitation. The photophysical and Ground state properties (quantum yield, lifetime, redox potential, and acid/base) of this spin-flip complex incorporating an earth-abundant metal surpass those of the classical precious metal [Ru(α-diimine)3]2+ charge transfer complexes, which are commonly employed in optical sensing and photo(redox) catalysis, underlining the bright future of these molecular ruby analogues. KW - Fluorescence KW - Optical probe KW - Sensor KW - PH KW - Quantum yield KW - Quality assurance KW - Complex KW - Cr(III) KW - Lifetime KW - Ligand KW - Theory PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-530548 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c05971 VL - 143 IS - 30 SP - 11843 EP - 11855 PB - ACS Publications AN - OPUS4-53054 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Srivastava, Priyanka A1 - Fürstenwerth, Paul Christian A1 - Witte, J. F. A1 - Resch-Genger, Ute T1 - Synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of a fluorescent phenanthrene-rhodamine dyad for ratiometric measurements of acid pH values N2 - We present the rational design, synthesis and spectroscopic characterization of a novel dual excitation, three color emitting, pH-responsive fluorescent probe consisting of two phenanthrene and one rhodamine B units linked by click chemistry. The rhodamine moiety, excitable at λEx = 315 nm and at λEx = 560 nm in its ring-opened form, provides the pH-responsive fluorophore, while the pH-insensitive phenanthrene, excited at λEx = 315 nm, serves as inert internal reference, The presence of two phenanthrene moieties enables a blue monomer and a blueish green excimer emission at 351 nm and 500 nm, respectively. Opening of the rhodamine B spirolactam ring at an acidic pH below 5.0 (pKa = 2.59 ± 0.04) switches on its emission at 580 nm. Simultaneously, the phenanthrene excimer emission decreases caused by a change in orientation of the phenanthrene units, while the monomer emission is barely affected. This sensor design enables ratiometric measurements in the low acidic pH range utilizing the intensity ratios of the rhodamine B and phenanthrene excimer emission at 580 nm and 500 nm. Alternatively, also the intensity ratios of the rhodamine B and the phenanthrene monomer emission could be exploited or the sum of the phenanthrene monomer and excimer fluorescence. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of ratiometric sensing utilizing such a versatile type of tricolor emissive dyad probe bearing phenanthrene moieties and showing phenanthrene monomer and excimer emission. KW - Fluorescence KW - Optical probe KW - Sensor KW - Dye KW - Rhodamine KW - Synthesis KW - Photophysics KW - PH KW - Quantum yield KW - Quality assurance KW - Mechanism KW - Chemodosimeter KW - Phenanthrene KW - Ratiometric KW - Dyad PY - 2021 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-530554 DO - https://doi.org/10.1039/d1nj01573g SN - 1144-0546 VL - 45 IS - 31 SP - 13755 EP - 13762 PB - Royal Society of Chemistry AN - OPUS4-53055 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -