Universal quenching of common fluorescent probes by water and alcohols.

ABSTRACT: Although biological imaging is mostly performed in aqueous media, it is hardly ever considered that water acts as a classic fluorescence quencher for organic fluorophores. By investigating the fluorescence properties of 42 common organic fluorophores recommended for biological labelling, we demonstrate that H₂O reduces their fluorescence quantum yield and lifetime by up to threefold and uncover the underlying fluorescence quenching mechanism. We show that the quenching efficiency is significantly larger for red-emitting probes and follows an energy gap law. The fluorescence quenching finds its origin in high-energy vibrations of the solvent (OH groups), as methanol and other linear alcohols are also found to quench the emission, whereas it is restored in deuterated solvents. Our

SUBMITTER: Maillard J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8179231 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature