Water-Induced Fluorescence Turn-On Imidazole Derivative and its Interactions with Bovine Serum Albumin

Abstract

A new trityl imidazole derivative L was synthesized in one-step by reacting 1H-imidazole and triphenylmethyl chloride. The receptor L was applied for the detection of trace amount water in DMSO. The weakly emissive L in DMSO showed a significant fluorescence enhancement upon addition of water due to the suppression of photo-induced electron transfer process and aggregation-induced emission. The sensitivity of L to detect water in DMSO was estimated as 0.002 wt%. Further, the binding characteristic of L with BSA was explored by using steady state fluorescence, fluorescence anisotropy and fluorescence lifetime under physiological condition at pH 7. The formation of BSA-L complex quenched the fluorescence emission of BSA. The molecular docking analysis was performed to establish the stable BSA-L complex formed due the multiple non-covalent interactions occurred between the residues of BSA and the receptor L.

Keywords: Trityl imidazole, Water sensor, SEM, BSA, Molecular Docking