J. Cao, Y.-J. He, B.-H. Han et al.
FULL PAPERS
To investigate the selectivity of fluorometric detection for
CT, as well as the specificity of carbohydrate–protein inter-
actions, Lac-TPE was treated with another protein (BSA)
under the same conditions, and no significant change of pho-
toluminescence intensity was observed. Furthermore, when
Lac-TPE was mixed with an equal amount of CTB and
BSA in PBS solution, the mixture displayed an intense emis-
sion, in which the intensity is almost as same as that ob-
served in the case of CTB (Figure 4).
Experimental Section
Materials and Instrumentation
All chemical reagents were commercially available and used as received
unless otherwise stated. CTB and Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA) were
purchased from Sigma–Aldrich Co. Tetrahydrofuran (THF) was purified
by distillation from sodium under nitrogen immediately prior to use. De-
ionized water was obtained with a Millipore purification system (Milli-Q
water).
1H and 13C NMR spectra were recorded on a Bruker DMX400 NMR
spectrometer using the solvent peak as internal reference. Mass spec-
trometry was performed on a Thermo LCQ Deca XP MAX mass spec-
trometer using the ESI(+) technique. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction
analysis of TPE derivative 1 was carried out on a Bruker SMART APEX
II CCD diffractometer. Ultraviolet-visible (UV/Vis) spectra were mea-
sured on a Perkin–Elmer Lamda 950 UV/Vis spectrometer and fluores-
cence spectra were measured on a Perkin–Elmer LS 55 luminescence
spectrometer using a conventional cell with 1 cm path length.
Synthesis of TPE derivative 1
Zn dust (5.31 g, 81.2 mmol) was added to a solution of 4,4’-dimethoxy-
benzophenone (2.01 g, 8.3 mmol) in 40 mL of dry THF. After refluxing
for 20 h, the reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and fil-
tered. The solvent was evaporated under vacuum and the crude product
was purified by column chromatography on silica gel using dichlorome-
thane/petroleum ether (v/v=1:2) as the eluent. Finally, compound 1 was
obtained as a white solid in 90% yield (1.69 g). 1H NMR (400 MHz,
CDCl3): d=6.92 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 8H), 6.63 (d, J=8.6 Hz, 8H), 3.72 ppm (s,
12H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3): d=157.9, 138.5, 137.0, 132.6, 113.1,
55.2 ppm.
Figure 4. Fluorescence spectra of sugar-TPE derivatives (2.0 mm Lac-TPE
or Cel-TPE in 50 mm PBS solution; pH 7.3) in the absence and presence
of different proteins (5.0 mm CTB or BSA in 50 mm PBS solution;
pH 7.3).
Synthesis of TPE Derivative 2
Under nitrogen atmosphere, compound 1 (3.00 g, 6.63 mmol) was dis-
solved and stirred in 40 mL dry dichloromethane. BBr3 (6.0 mL,
63.6 mmol) was quickly added to the solution at À458C. After stirring for
30 min, the solution was allowed to warm to room temperature and was
stirred for a further 10 h. The reaction mixture was poured into cold
water with vigorous stirring until no more precipitate was formed. After
filtration and drying, a purple solid 2 was obtained in 93% yield (2.44 g).
1H NMR (400 MHz, [D6]DMSO): d=6.71 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 8H), 6.49 ppm
(d, J=8.4 Hz, 8H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, [D6]DMSO): d=155.4, 137.7,
135.1, 132.0, 114.5 ppm.
As a control study, Cel-TPE was also used to investigate
the effect of sugar ligand on the selectivity of CT detection.
Compared with high fluorescence intensity induced by Lac-
TPE/CTB ensemble, the CTB cannot “turn on” the fluores-
cence of Cel-TPE, which implies that there is no specific in-
teraction between Cel-TPE and CTB. All the results afore-
mentioned substantiate the specificity of interaction be-
tween Lac-TPE and CTB.
Preparation of TPE Derivative 3
A
mixture of compound 2 (700 mg, 1.77 mmol), propargyl bromide
(80 wt% in toluene, 2.0 mL, 18.0 mmol), K2CO3 (2 g, 14.5 mmol) and
NBu4Br (30 mg) in acetone (30 mL) was refluxed overnight under a ni-
trogen atmosphere. The mixture was then cooled to room temperature
and filtered. After removal of the solvent under reduced pressure, the
residue was purified by column chromatography on silica gel (ethyl ace-
tate/petroleum ether, v/v=1:5) to give the desired product 3 (794 mg,
82%) as a white solid. 1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): d=6.93 (d, J=
8.4 Hz, 8H), 6.70 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 8H), 4.62 (d, J=2.4 Hz, 8H), 2.51 ppm
(t, J=2.4 Hz, 4H). 13C NMR (100 MHz, CDCl3): d=156.1, 138.7, 137.6,
132.6, 114.1, 78.7, 75.6, 55.9 ppm.
Conclusions
In summary, neutral lactose-bearing tetraphenylethenes are
designed and prepared as “turn-on” luminescent sensors for
cholera toxin. Aggregation derived from lactosyl–CTB bind-
ing can switch on the fluorescence of water-soluble tetraphe-
nylethylene-based glycoconjugates in PBS solution, which
can be used for investigation of carbohydrate–protein inter-
actions based on aggregation-induced emission. We believe
that methods inspired by this concept of investigating carbo-
hydrate-mediated biological interactions have promising ap-
plications in biomacromolecule detections and glycobiology
studies.
Synthesis of TPE Derivative 5a
To a suspension of compound 3 (150 mg, 0.27 mmol) and lactose azide
derivative 4a (1.07 g, 1.62 mmol) in THF/H2O (v/v=2:1, 30 mL) were
added sodium ascorbate (30 mg) and CuSO4 (20 mg) as a catalyst. The
mixture was stirred at 708C for 6 h and then extracted three times with
ethyl acetate (50 mL). The combined organic extracts were concentrated
and purified by column chromatography on silica gel (ethyl acetate/pe-
troleum ether, v/v=4:1) to yield
a white solid 5a (751 mg, 86%).
1H NMR (400 MHz, CDCl3): d=7.78 (s, 4H), 6.90 (d, J=8.4 Hz, 8H),
6.69 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 8H), 5.85 (d, J=8.8 Hz, 4H), 5.41–5.38 (m, 8H), 5.34
(d, J=3.2 Hz, 4H), 5.09 (s, 8H), 4.96 (dd, J=3.2, 10.4 Hz, 4H), 4.53 (d,
2380
ꢀ 2011 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
Chem. Asian J. 2011, 6, 2376 – 2381