%0 Journal Article
%A Vyšniauskas, Aurimas
%A López Duarte, Ismael
%A Duchemin, Nicolas
%A Vu, Thanh-Truc
%A Wu, Yilei
%A Budynina, Ekaterina M.
%A Volkova, Yulia A.
%A Peña Cabrera, Eduardo
%A Ramírez-Ornelas, Diana E.
%A Kuimova, Marina K.
%T Exploring viscosity, polarity and temperature sensitivity of BODIPY-based molecular rotors
%D 2017
%@ 1463-9076
%@ 1463-9084
%U https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14352/114926
%X Microviscosity is a key parameter controlling the rate of diffusion and reactions on the microscale. Oneof the most convenient tools for measuring microviscosity is by fluorescent viscosity sensors termed‘molecular rotors’. BODIPY-based molecular rotors in particular proved extremely useful in combinationwith fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy, for providing quantitative viscosity maps of living cells aswell as measuring dynamic changes in viscosity over time. In this work, we investigate several newBODIPY-based molecular rotors with the aim of improving on the current viscosity sensing capabilitiesand understanding how the structure of the fluorophore is related to its function. We demonstrate thatdue to subtle structural changes, BODIPY-based molecular rotors may become sensitive to temperatureand polarity of their environment, as well as to viscosity, and provide a photophysical model explainingthe nature of this sensitivity. Our data suggests that a thorough understanding of the photophysicsof any new molecular rotor, in environments of different viscosity, temperature and polarity, is a mustbefore moving on to applications in viscosity sensing.
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