Theoretical fingerprinting of the photophysical properties of four firefly bioluminophores

• Type: Article in International Scientific Journal
• Date: 2013

Authors

Luis Pinto da Silva (Author) Other; Joaquim C G E Esteves da Silva (Author) FCUP

Journal

Title: Photochemical & Photobiological Sciences

Vol. 12

Pages: 2028-2035

ISSN: 1474-905X

Publisher: Springer Nature

Indexing

ISI Web of Knowledge - 12 Citations

ISI Web of Science

Scopus - 17 Citations

Scientific classification

FOS: Natural sciences > Chemical sciences

CORDIS: Physical sciences > Chemistry

Other information

Authenticus ID: P-006-FEM

DOI: 10.1039/c3pp50203a

Abstract (EN): The photophysical properties of four bare firefly bioluminophores were studied in vacuo by means of a density functional theory approach. The objective of this work was to fingerprint the excited-state properties of these molecules without perturbations of the microenvironment (either solution or enzyme active site). It is known that intermolecular interactions formed between the light-emitter and active site molecules govern the bioluminescence multicolor tuning mechanism. However, it is difficult to disentangle the numerous active site-oxyluciferin interactions and understand the effect exerted by each one of these interactions on the color of light emitted. Thus, the study of these isolated bioluminophores allows us to obtain their intrinsic photophysics properties, which can serve as a reference in studies aiming to understand the role of perturbations from the microenvironment.

Language: English

Type (Professor's evaluation): Scientific

No. of pages: 8