Asymmetric Indolylmaleimide Derivatives and Their Complexation with Zinc(II)-Cyclen

The spectroscopic properties of two asymmetric indolylmaleimide derivatives, 4-bromo-3-(1′H-indol-3′-yl)-maleimide and 4-memyl-3-(1′H-indol-3′-yl)maleimide, are investigated. The bromo derivative was crystallized and its X-ray structure was determined. Both compounds are strongly colored while their separate components (indole and maleimide) absorb in the UV region only. To understand the ground- and excited-state behavior, the photophysical properties of the two compounds were studied in detail by steady state and time-resolved absorption and emission spectroscopy. Their solvatochromic behavior was investigated by using the Kamlet-Taft approach, which indicates some charge transfer (CT) character in the excited state. Nano- and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy was used for the identification and investigation of the CT state. Furthermore, the effect of the complexation with zinc(II) 1,4,7,11-tetraazacyclododecane (Zn-cyclen) on the photophysical properties of these two compounds was studied. An enhancement of the fluorescence intensity upon self-assembly (up to 90 times) and high association constants were observed, which illustrate the potential use of these compounds as luminescent sensors. DFT calculations indicate that HOMO-1 to LUMO excitation is mainly responsible for the charge transfer character and that this transition changes its character drastically when Zn-cyclen complexation occurs, thus giving it sensor properties. © 2005 American Chemical Society

MALDI-In Source Decay Applied to Mass Spectrometry Imaging: A New Tool for Protein Identification.

Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) imaging is a powerful technique giving access to the distribution of a large range of biomolecules directly from a tissue section, allowing, for example, the discovery of new pathological biomarkers. Nevertheless, one main difficulty lies in the identification of the detected species, especially proteins. MALDI-in source decay (ISD) is used to fragment ions directly in the mass spectrometer ion source. This technique does not require any special sample treatment but only the use of a specific MALDI matrix such as 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid or 1,5-diaminonaphthalene. MALDI-ISD is generally employed on classical, purified samples, but here we demonstrate that ISD can also be performed directly on mixtures and on a tissue slice leading to fragment ions, allowing the identification of major proteins without any further treatment. On a porcine eye lens slice, de novo sequencing was even performed. Crystallins not yet referenced in databases were identified by sequence homology with other mammalian species. On a mouse brain slice, we demonstrate that results obtained with ISD are comparable and even better than those obtained with a classical in situ digestion