Solvent dependence of cyanoindole fluorescence lifetime

• DOI: 10.1016/j.cplett.2017.07.038
• Publication Date: 2017-07-19T04:15:27Z
• Authors: Mary Rose Hilaire; Debopreeti Mukherjee; Thomas Troxler; Feng Gai
• Keywords: Quantum yield

Several cyanotryptophans have been shown to be useful biological fluorophores. However, how their fluorescence lifetimes vary with solvent has not been examined. In this regard, herein we measure the fluorescence decay kinetics as well as the absorption and emission spectra of six cyanoindoles in different solvents. In particular, we find, among other results, that only 4-cyanoindole affords a long fluorescence lifetime and hence high quantum yield in H2O. Therefore, our measurements provide not only a guide for choosing which cyanotryptophan to use in practice but also data for computational modeling of the substitution effect on the electronic transitions of indole.