Different reactive oxygen species were detected by the molecular probes 1-3 that were composed of the phthalimide fluorophore as reporter and a methionine-derived thioether side-chain as receptor part. The sulfoxides that were formed as the primary oxidation products show strong fluorescence in the blue-green (430-540 nm) spectral region. Self-sensitized oxidation by singlet oxygen is in general inefficient indicating rapid electron-transfer quenching of the excited probe molecules. With hydrogen peroxide as thermal oxidant conversion to the sulfoxides is slow but can be accelerated by addition of titanium(IV) catalysts, whereas hypochlorite as oxidant behaves much more reactive even under uncatalyzed conditions. Singlet oxygen that is generated by energy transfer from the photosensitizer Rose Bengal was detected by sensor 1a with rate constants of >10 7 M -1 s -1 , a typical rate constant for the oxidation of thioethers to sulfoxides.

The photophysical properties of fluorescent phthalimides with thioether groups directly connected to the chromophore or separated by alkyl spacers, respectively, were studied. Intermolecular fluorescence quenching by electron transfer from dimethylsulfide to the 4,5-dimethoxy phthalimide (DMPht) model compound 6 is dynamic and fast. The fluorescence properties of 6 and the remote C 5 -spaced thioether derivative 5 are nearly identical. In compounds 1-4 with shorter spacer lengths, fluorescence quenching is strong for C 2 and C 3 -spaced 2 and 3 and less pronounced for C 1 -and C 4 -spaced compounds 1 and 4, mapping the conformational landscape of these molecules. The o-,m-,p-substituted N-(thiomethyl)benzyl DMPht 7 are almost non-fluorescent which correlates very well with the intermolecular thioanisole fluorescence quenching of 6. In contrast, the 3-and 4-thiomethyl phthalimides 8 and 9 show divergent fluorescence that is also rationalized by DFT calculation results. The fluorescence properties can be switched by oxidation of the thioethers to sulfoxides with H 2 O 2 or 1 O 2 (off! on for 1,4,7 and on!off for 9). Further functionalized molecules that were based on the model compounds are the sulfurcontaining amino acid methionine derivative 10, dipeptides 11 a,b, and S-alkylated cysteine derivatives 12 to 14 a-d with strong side-chain-dependent fluorescence.[a] Dr.

The α-methylated chalcones 7a–7e behave as P-type photochromic substances with photo-stationary states (PSS) as high as 15:85 when irradiated at 350 nm. These compounds are easily accessible in pure E-configuration by aldol condensation or by oxidative coupling/elimination. The α-methyl groups make these compounds potentially reactive with singlet oxygen following the gem-rule that predicts 1O2 regioselectivity. Even after long irradiations times in the presence of the singlet oxygen sensitizer tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) and oxygen, however, no oxygenation products were detected. Under these conditions, all substrates were converted into 9:1 E/Z-mixtures despite the use of low-energy light that does not allow direct or sensitized excitation of the substrates 7. Additionally, chalcone 7a reduced the singlet oxygen reactivity of the tiglic ketone 3a by about a factor of two, indicating substantial physical quenching of singlet oxygen by the α-methylated chalcones 7a–7e. Thus, a singlet oxygen-induced E/Z-isomerization involving 1,2-dioxatetra-methylene biradicals that leads to triplet oxygen and thermodynamic E/Z-mixtures is postulated and supported by quantum chemical (DFT)-calculations.

The α-methylated chalcone 3 with an electron-donor substituted A-aryl ring and an unsubstituted B-phenyl ring was synthesized by base-catalyzed aldehyde/acetophenone condensation. Compound 3 can be photo-switched from E→Z by irradiation with long-wavelength light λ > 350 nm, whereas irradiation with shorter wavelengths leads to photo-stationary states (PSS) with lower amounts of the Z-isomer. The limiting wavelength for fully equilibrated E⮀Z (PSS = 1) can be achieved around 240 nm. The stability of both E- and Z-isomers at the wavelength-dependent PSS under UV-irradiation between 250 and 350 nm is remarkably high as observed from UV and NMR spectroscopy. Compound 3 is fatigue resistant even after more than 10 days continuous irradiation and is also oxygenation-stable under singlet oxygen sensitization conditions. In remarkable contrast to many other α-methylated chalcones, no change in the E/Z-ratio was detected when PSS samples were treated with Broensted acids. The negative photochromic E→Z switch of 3 is accompanied by a conformational switch from the E-form in its preferred s-trans conformation to the Z-form in a distorted s-cis conformation (Es-c→Zs-t).